Waiting period of Indians for US visa to fall sharply

After the issue of visa delays was taken up by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his counterpart during his recent visit to the US, the situation has started improving,” said Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian ambassador to US.

Chandigarh: Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian ambassador to US, said that they have made the US officials realize the importance of Indians who go to United States specially the professionals in the field of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

Sandhu, while replying to the question of the delay in US visas told a gathering on Chandigarh University campus, Gharuan “About two third of the total Indians who travel to the US on various type of visas belong to the field of science and technology and they bring value and competitive edge. After the issue of visa delays was taken up by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with his counterpart during his recent visit to the US, the situation has started improving. In a recent information released by US embassy in India, more than one lakh appointments of H and L workers have been recently released and with this the waiting time for US visas for Indians will come down drastically.”

He added that varsities such as Chandigarh University should create specialised domains such as space technology, information technology, agriculture, mathematics and other areas where the expertise of Indians have been acknowledged at the global level. “This will create a space where international students can be attracted from all over the world to come and study in India.

Recently the US Department of State launched Gandhi-King scholarship exchange initiative under which a number of US students can come and study in India. This scholarship also allows the faculty to visit Indian universities under the exchange programs and joint research initiatives,” Sandhu said while giving details about US students coming to India.