US Embassy in India breaks record, issues 1 million visas for second consecutive year

New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) The US Embassy and its consulate in India have scripted a new record by issuing more than one million non-immigrant visas for the second year in a row.

The record number of non-immigrant visas underscores the huge demand among Indians for travel to the United States for purposes like tourism, business, education, medical treatment and others. A non-immigrant visa facilitates entry into the United States for these purposes.

The US Embassy, having pledged to scale up Indian visitors to the US after the Covid pandemic, has maintained astounding numbers over the years.

“In the past four years, the number of visitors from India has increased by five times, and more than two million Indians have travelled to the United States in the first eleven months of 2024, a 26 per cent increase over the same period in 2023,” the Embassy said in an official statement.

Over five million Indians already have a non-immigrant visa to visit the United States and each day, the Mission issues thousands more.

“The US Department of State completed a successful pilot programme to renew H-1B visas in the United States this year. This allowed many speciality occupation workers from India to renew their visas without leaving the United States. This pilot programme streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the Department of State is working to formally establish a US-based renewal programme in 2025,” it stated further.

The US Missions have also issued tens of thousands of immigrant visas, facilitating legal family reunification and migration of skilled professionals. These immigrant visa holders have gone on to become permanent residents.

“The US mission has also provided more than 24,000 passports and other consular services to American citizens living and travelling in India,” it said in a press statement.

The Embassy has also issued US student visas to more than 3 lakh Indian students, its largest ever.

“In 2024, India became the top sender of international students for the first time since the 2008/2009 academic year with more than 331,000 students overall studying in the United States. India also remains the largest sender of international graduate students in the United States for the second year,” said the US mission.

It further informed that the number of Indian graduates has also seen a rise of 19 per cent compared to earlier, and at present, there are nearly 2,00,000 students.