NEW DELHI: The United States has issued the highest ever number of students visas — over 55,000 — in India this year.
The US Embassy in a statement Monday said that the mission in India “approved more student visa applicants in 2021 than ever before, despite the global Covid-19 pandemic. Through these efforts, more than 55,000 students and exchange visitors are boarding planes to study in the US, and more students are being approved every day.”
The embassy said that with “the summer student rush” dissipating, “the mission will turn its energy and effort to other visa categories.”
Ambassador Atul Keshap, Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi, said: “Studying in the US is a unique and often life-changing experience for Indian students, granting fresh, global perspectives and frequently leading to invaluable career opportunities. Indian students also enrich US society, achieve high levels of academic success, and deepen the bonds of friendship between our countries. The many hard-working women and men of the US Mission to India are proud to facilitate their travel and study.”
Recounting the challenges faced during the pandemic, the embassy statement said consulates typically begin interviewing fall semester students for a given year in May. But the second Covid wave in India forced the US mission to delay the commencement of its student visa season by two months.
“In July, as soon as conditions allowed for the resumption of visa services without endangering applicants’ health and safety, consular teams worked not only to match, but surpass, their pre-Covid workload. The US Embassy and Consulates opened additional hours for visa appointments and made every possible effort to ensure timely arrival for academic programs for as many students as possible. Ultimately, these efforts paid off, as more students than ever before received visas to study in the US,” the statement says.
“The US mission looks forward to another great student season as it facilitates study for spring semester students over the coming few months,” it added.
