Delhi: US Envoy visits mission as embassy faces “unprecedented demand for US visitor visas”

New Delhi [India], November 7 (ANI): US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti on Monday visited the US mission in the national capital to oversee the “unprecedented demand” for US visitor visas among the Indians.

The US Embassy said that Garcetti was the special guest helping the extra visa applicants on ‘Super Saturday’.

“The gang’s all here! Our consular team in New Delhi woke up early this weekend for a special “Super Saturday” dedicated to meeting the unprecedented demand for U.S. visitor visas. We are seeing extra visa applicants with the help of Ambassador Eric Garcetti, our special guest finger printer!” the US Embassy posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Sharing his experience, the US envoy said that he was excited to join the Consular team which is working to meet the visa processing, making travel easier and reducing interview wait times.

“#SuperSaturday is back, and I’m so excited to join the Consular team! They are going above and beyond to ensure our commitment to visa processing is met, making travel easier and reducing interview wait times,” Garcetti posted on X.

Earlier in September, the US Embassy in India issued a record 90,000 student visas this Summer (July-August). This meant that almost one in four student visas issued worldwide, was issued in the India.

Eric Garcetti had recently said that the wait time for first-time tourist visa interviews has been reduced by more than 50 per cent, adding that goal for 2023 is to process at least one million visas.

India and the US have taken several initiatives to make the visa process smooth. Earlier, during his visit to the United State, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that Indian professionals will no longer need to leave America for the renewal of their H-1B visas.

The United States authorities announced that they will introduce ‘in-country’ renewable H-1B visas as part of the people-to-people initiative to smoothen the process of H-1B visa renewal.