In a recent tweet, #VisaFriday, the U.S. Embassy in India has released a video. In this video, the U.S. Embassy has indicated that the visa wait times have been reduced by 75% in 2023. This also states that over 1.1 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2023, which includes around 600,000 B1/B2 visas. In an effort to reduce wait times, the number of consular officers in Hyderabad has been doubled and they expect to increase the strength of consular staff across posts by end of 2024.
While all of this information is encouraging, the fact remains that the wait time for B1/B2 visa applicants is around 15 to 17 months, which is frustratingly long. We truly hope that the wait time will be brought to a few weeks in the not too distant future.
This tweet can be found in the link below.