NEW DELHI – The US Embassy in India has announced that it will be temporarily closed for visa application processing for three days.
The services including appointment booking, calls, and fee payments would be closed from July 12 to July 14 as VFS Global which handles visa processing for the United States in India, is shifting to a new platform; the services will be resumed on July 15.
“Attention visa applicants! Our customer service center VFS is migrating to a new platform and will be temporarily closed for calls, fee payments, and appointment bookings from July 12-14. These services will resume on July 15,” the US Embassy said on Twitter.
VFS Global is an outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions and they are a known name for managing the administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa, passport, and consular services for its client governments.
The shutting down of VFS Global comes as the wait times for US visa interviews increased to as many as 12 months in some cases. The US Embassy in India has tried to slash the wait time, and the average wait time is now down to around 3 months.
“We’re already doing this. We’re currently processing more visas, faster, than the US Mission in India ever has before. We have set a goal for ourselves to process at least a million visas in 2023, and we’re already more than halfway towards reaching that goal,” United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said while addressing an audience.
Earlier in June, it was reported during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit that the authorities in the United States will make it easier for Indians to live and work in the United States.
The Indian regime is trying to convince the Biden administration to help some skilled workers enter or remain in the country, according to well-placed sources.
At that time, sources said that the State Department is likely to make an official announcement in this regard that a small number of Indians and other foreign workers on H-1B visas will be able to renew those visas in the US, without having to travel abroad.
