The US embassy in India has decided that it is closing in-person appointments for students. This choice was made after interviewing a large number of applicants for the winter semester, which takes place from October 1 to January 15 in the US. It has been observed that the pandemic didn’t bring about any major changes in the outflow of Indian students. Over 55,000 Indian students and exchange visitors were issued USA Student visa this year.
The Embassy, in a recent tweet said that “In the interests of the health and safety of visa applicants and our team, we will not be opening additional in-person student appointments for the month of January. We thank all prospective applicants for their continued patience & understanding during these unprecedented times.”
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The US Embassy, however, has also stated that it has no plans to cancel the previously scheduled appointments and the students are required to show up for the appointments as scheduled. They have also informed that they are strictly following and monitoring the rapid outburst of covid-19 cases across India and are complying with the latest health and safety guidelines issued by the CDC and the government of India.
Furthermore, Indian citizens who want a student visa can still apply via post or through emergency visa services which were resumed by VFS Global in early December 2021.
The surge in applications made this year has fueled a long standing anticipation that the number of Indians visiting the US might see a steep rise this year. The US is undoubtedly one of the most popular choices among the students wishing to study abroad. Every year, the US welcomes around 1 million Indians and international students. Among them, 150,000 lakh Indian students traveled to the US on a student Visa.
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