US embassy in India assures more student visa appointments in coming weeks

The United States on Tuesday assured more visa appointments to Indian students in the coming weeks after a rush for interview slots among applicants was witnessed at the embassy portal on opening day. Taking to Twitter, the embassy said that thousands of students have secured visa appointments for July and August. The officials said that they are working to resolve the technical issues that students are facing in the visa application process.

"Since June 14, thousands of students have secured visa appointments for July and August. Thousands of appointments remain available and we will open thousands more in the coming weeks. We appreciate your patience as we diligently work to resolve the technical issues you have encountered," US Embassy in India tweeted. On Monday, student applicants, slated to join US colleges, had faced some glitches on the embassy portal. The embassy had asked the applicants to refrain from refreshing their accounts too often.

"We are aware of the high demand for student visa appointments. Please remember, do not refresh too often, as you may be locked out of your account. Appointments remain available at all posts, and we will continue to add appointments as conditions allow," the US embassy said in a tweet on Monday. According to a student platform Study International, the travel ban against travelers from several countries is still in effect, however, international students with US student visas are exempted.

Earlier, the US embassy had cancelled the majority of in-person appointments for immigrant and non-immigrant visa processing due to the pandemic. The US State Department had said that the pandemic has continued to affect the ability of embassies and consulates around the world to resume US visa services.