US Visa Renewal Coverage Shift Might Sluggish Indian Enterprise and Tourism Journey

• A shift again to pre-Covid visa renewal guidelines within the US might result in longer ready occasions for Indian candidates.
• The journey trade means that these modifications, coupled with restricted direct flights, are hindering the potential progress of India-US journey.

The U.S. has reverted to its pre-Covid visa renewal coverage, probably resulting in prolonged wait occasions for a lot of Indian candidates. This coverage change solely permits vacationers to resume their visas with out an embassy or consulate interview if their earlier same-class visa is legitimate or expired inside the final 12 months.

In November 2022, when wait occasions for the B1/B2 enterprise and tourism visa interview had prolonged to nearly three years in India, the U.S. expanded the eligibility for same-class drop field visa renewal—which doesn’t require an interview—from 12 to 48 months. This adjustment considerably lowered the wait time for B1/B2 interviews. Nevertheless, the latest reversion to the 12-month eligibility for renewal might imply extra individuals searching for appointments for same-class visa renewal, probably extending the queue additional.

The journey trade has expressed concern over this modification, noting it might add difficulties for these counting on renewal. Anil Kalsi, Vice President of the Journey Brokers Federation of India, famous that many individuals had been caught unprepared by the sudden coverage shift.

The rise in visa renewal wait occasions and restricted direct flights because of U.S. airways not utilizing Russian airspace are thought to constrain the potential progress in India-U.S. journey. Regardless of this, a report variety of Indians traveled to the U.S. final yr, surpassing the 2019 pre-Covid excessive, making India the second largest abroad supply of worldwide guests to the U.S., following the UK.

Uncover extra at The Instances of India.