Hyderabad: US visa appointment wait times dropped drastically

Hyderabad: US visa appointment wait times at consulates located in Hyderabad that were nearly 1000 calendar days in November have dropped drastically. The consulates in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai and the embassy in New Delhi also saw a drop in wait times.

At the Hyderabad consulate, the wait time for visitor visas has dropped from 994 to 261 calendar days whereas, at the New Delhi embassy, it dropped from 961 to 786 calendar days. The wait times at Chennai and Kolkata consulates for visitor visas have also come down from 948 to 800 and 904 to 370 calendar days respectively.

Though appointment wait time for visitor visas has dropped, the wait time for US student visas increased at all consulates and embassy in India.

Steps being taken to reduce wait times

Though the visa appointment wait times have gone down drastically when compared to wait times in November, attempts are being made to bring them down further.

To reduce the wait times, authorities are making more applicants eligible for interview waivers. Apart from it, dropbox cases are being sent abroad for adjudication.

Addressing the growing concern over the backlog of visa applications from countries like India, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Wednesday that he certainly understands the frustrations of those who have to wait for a long time.

“Visa processing is recovering faster than projected and over the coming year, we expect to reach pre-pandemic processing levels,” Price said.

“I can tell you that it is a priority of the Secretary and of the Department to do everything we can to reduce that backlog and ultimately to reduce the wait times,” he said.

US visa appointment wait times at consulates in Hyderabad, other cities

Currently, the visa appointment wait time at embassy and consulates in Hyderabad and other cities is as follows

Hyderabad

Visa type	Appointment wait time in November 2022 (calendar days)	Current appointment wait time in (calendar days)
Interview Required Visitors	994	261
Interview Required Students/Exchange Visitors	37	331
Interview Required Petition-Based Temporary Workers	366	97
Interview Waiver Visitors	228	100
Interview Waiver Students/Exchange Visitors	1	64
Interview Waiver Petition-Based Temporary Workers	311	230