US govt aware of long delays in visa appointments in India: White House

PTI

Washington, December 9

The Biden Administration is aware of the long delays in visa appointments in India and is working to respond to the "significant demand of these visa services", the White House said on Thursday.

“I can say that the Biden administration is aware of the issues,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

She was responding to a question on the agonising long visa appointment period at the US missions in India, which currently runs into more than 1,000 days.

“While we have made great strides, as you know, because you cover this very closely, in recovering from the pandemic-related closures and staffing challenges, we are still working to respond to the significant demand of these visa services,” Jean-Pierre said.

“That is something that we will continue to do. We are successfully lowering visa interview wait times, that's around the world, and we've doubled our hiring of US Foreign Service personnel to do this important work. Visa processing is recovering faster than projected, and this year we expect to reach pre-pandemic processing levels,” she said. 

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