The Hindu Business Line : Long wait ahead for US tourist visa applicants

TOURISTS planning a visit to the US this summer may well face some hurdles if they have not planned their holidays well in advance. And no, it does not have to do with over-booked flights in a busy outbound travel season.

Instead, the long time required for the visa application process could scupper their travel plans.

According to travel agents here, personal interviews of visa applicants are being scheduled two to two-and-a-half months down the line.

So, a person applying in May, can hope to get an interview slot only in the last week of July.

Many vacationers who had not planned their holidays well in advance have had to change their travel plans and destinations. Much of this traffic has been diverted to countries in Europe, besides Australia and New Zealand.

The US Consulate is among the visa offices to have outsourced its documentation to the Visa Facilitation Centre.

According to a travel agent, while this has proved a convenient option for the visa offices, it has not been very helpful for the applicants.

"Earlier, though the applicants had to queue up in front of the consulate hours before it opened to submit their documents, they could hope to complete the formalities and have their visas issued in less than a week.

With the new system, an applicant submitting all his documents today, can hope to get an interview only in the last week of July."

The US Visa Application Centre here confirms that for most visa categories, the earliest available dates are in the last week of July.

However, applicants seeking a student visa (F1 or M1) or an exchange visitor visa (J1) are being given appointments for the next working day.

Similarly, applicants for visit visas (B1/B2) for medical emergency or urgent business meeting are also being given appointments on priority on a case-by-case basis.

According to another travel agent, since Indians normally do not plan their holidays three-four months in advance, many have had to change their travel plans.

He adds that this situation is not localised to the Mumbai visa office.

The minimum waiting for visa applicants in other centres is 25-30 days, which could stretch out to a month-and-a-half.

However, he adds that while the application process is taking much longer today, the US consulates are issuing more visas.

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