Many Kolkatans are facing a long wait for US visas, which is threatening to jeopardise their plans to visit friends and family members there around the festival season.
Travel agents and visa applicants complained of delays in getting business visas, too.
Travel agents said the long wait for US visas has been continuing since the Covid-19 pandemic. “The situation had improved a bit but again there are delays,” said a travel agent.
A businessman from south Kolkata had applied for a business visa in July and requested for an early appointment for the visa interview since he had an invite from a client in that country for a meeting.
“The applicant received a confirmation that the appointment could be taken within three days. But on all three days he failed to get into the system of the visa website. He wrote to the US consulate and got a reply that they would revert in 48 hours, but that did not happen,” said the businessman’s travel agent who was processing the visa.
A 70-year-old woman from Mudiali said her tourist visa to the US would expire in end-August. She applied for renewal of the tourist visa and paid the requisite fee of Rs 15,540 on July 24. She plans to visit her daughter in New Jersey in September.
“My travel agent told me that he is unable to get a visa interview appointment. I am not sure whether I will be able to visit my daughter as planned,” she said.
A 61-year-old woman from Jadavpur had her tourist visa to the US expired in 2021. She wants to visit her brother in Washington in October and has applied for renewal of her visa. She has paid the visa fee in end-July and is still awaiting an appointment for visa interview.
All three applicants requested not to be named.
“Before Covid, we would get appointment within a fortnight of paying the visa fee. Since Covid, there have been delays but things improved early this year. Delays are back since the last week of July. We are calling the helpline number of the outsourced agency but cannot contact anyone,” said a travel agent who is processing the visa requests for both women.
Travel agents said things had improved after the US embassy introduced a drop box that allowed an applicant to apply within four years of expiry of his or her visa.
“The new drop box system allows applications from Kolkata to be honoured in any part of India. If the appointment is available in another city at an earlier date, the applicant can opt for the facility,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, east, Travel Agents Federation of India.
“However, recently, we are facing delays and have been unable to access the website for visa appointments on many days. We are planning to take up the issue with the US consulate.”
A spokesperson for the US consulate general in Kolkata said “significant resources” have been dedicated to minimise the wait for visa appointment.
“India is a top priority for us. We have dedicated significant resources to lowering appointment wait time in India and are committed to getting our staff the tools, resources, and support they need to bring wait times down further,” said the spokesperson.
“Wait times for first-time visitor visa interviews have been reduced by 70 per cent since the beginning of calendar year 2023. We understand the continuing wait times are a challenge for many families, and we are dedicating resources, such as additional staffing or the use of remote processing options, to reduce these wait times as quickly as possible in embassy in New Delhi and our consulates,” the spokesperson said.
“In India, all non-immigrant visa categories except for first-time visitor visa applicants have interview wait times close to pre-pandemic levels or lower, and we have significantly increased the number of visas issued across the board. Overall, Mission India has issued 879,639 non-immigrant visas through June 2023, 46 per cent more than during the same period in pre-pandemic financial year 2019.”
The consulate general said those having difficulty reaching the call centre via phone can email for support at: support-india@usvisascheduling.com.