US To Open Student Visa Appointments for Mid-July - Mid-August Period

The United States has finally opened its F-1 Visa appointments for Indian students from mid-July to mid-August across its consulate in the subcontinent in a move that has been seen as a major relief to many hopefuls throughout the country. The US Embassy in India's Twitter account recently posted about the opening of appointments for the US Student Visa, gathering a host of responses still curious about the refusal slots. Hopefuls can visit the US Travel Docs website to apply for their visas and attempt to study abroad.

About 125,000 Indians were able to get a student visa last year. This year it is expected that even more students will be able to get a US student visa. The acting minister counsellor for consular affairs in India, Brendan Mullarkey, stated that 1 in 5 US student visas last year were for Indians. “This year, we will interview more students than ever before,” he announced.

With this recent US student visa news comes optimism for the lakhs of students vying for a student visa appointment this year. “It’s impossible to predict exactly how many students will be applying this year, but we have increased our staffing, and we’re prepared to process more student applications than we did last year,” Mullarkey responded upon being asked whether he expects to see more Indians studying abroad in the US. 

The US Embassy released some figures earlier this year which suggested that over 200,000 students are currently studying at academic institutions in the USA, a number never seen before. These numbers also mean that about 20% of all international students in the US are Indians. Of course, this US student visa news comes as a sigh of relief to many.

The US diplomatic mission in India quite recently also conducted its annual student visa day nationwide in cities such as Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, where the American ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti, sang high praise for Indian students.“ Indians have not only pursued education in the US but for decades have shown excellence. We are on track to process the highest number of visa applications for students in our history."

Now is the time for Indian hopefuls looking to obtain a US Student visa and study abroad. With the US actively looking to bring in sharp Indian students on board, it’s best to apply during the mid-July to mid-August student visa appointments.

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