Majority of Indian US bound Indian students from East: Consul

KOLKATA: US Consul Melinda Pavek has said a large number of Indian students flying to the United States for higher education in 2024 are from the eastern region.

One in four foreign students in the US are from India.

Thousands of students from the states in this region, including the northeast, would be part of the biggest delegation of Indian students to the US this year, Pavek said on the 8th Annual Student Visa Day here on Thursday.

"The top four student visa processing posts in the world were all right here in India last year, as we issued more visas than in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined," a statement issued by the US Embassy said.

Pavek said students are a priority for the US.

She, however, said, "I would hate the prospect of a student mortgaging family fortune to study in an Ivy League school. The emphasis should be rather on the degree."

On reports that several Indian students were deported from the US on arrival for visa issues recently, she said her country never wants to turn away any "genuine students".

Pavek said as part of imparting English language skills to Indians, the US consulate is teaching specialised communication to women entrepreneurs from the marginalised section of society.

"We are imparting them special skills on how to write business plans. It is about specialised communication helpful for them," she added.

Pavek said she has found that in the US, Indian students are interested in studying computer science, machine learning, and AI, apart from engineering, chemistry and physics etc.

The US Consular Team interviewed more than 3,900 student visa applicants across the country during the daylong event on Thursday.

In the US consulate here, more than 100 students and their families participated in the activities.