The United States of America (USA) will give preference to student visas as the country forecast heavy surge in the application of the authorisation with the lifting of travel curbs for vaccinated travellers, a diplomat of the country said here on Wednesday.
The US government has already announced the lifting of the severe travel restrictions on China, India and much of Europe effective from November 8. The US travel restrictions were first imposed in early 2020 to check the spread of COVID-19.
“The appointments for visa will be made available from November 1. Priority will be given to student visas,” US Consul General to Kolkata, Melinda Pavek said on the sidelines of an interactive session with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here.
The US has already issued 62,000 Indian student visas in 2021, she said. She said with the US presidential proclamation coming to an end on November 8, applications for all types of visas will become eligible.
The accounting period for a US visa for various purposes like work, business and studies is between September of a year to August the next year, officials said. A consul official said except for a brief period student and emergency visas were not closed. From November 8 all types of visas will be given and a heavy surge of visa applications is expected.
Patton International senior official Preeyam Bhudhia said Indo-US trade will get a boost with the lifting of the travel restrictions. Bilateral trade between the two countries had already recovered by 50 per cent till August and is expected to reach the pre-COVID level of 2019 in the current year, ICC officials said.
Source: Indian Express, 29/10/21
