'We're Focused On It': US Assures Action On Backlog Of Applications After India Flags Visa Delay Issue

Blaming the Covid-19 pandemic for the backlog Blinken said, " I'm extremely sensitive to this. This will play out over the next few months, but we're very focused on it."

New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday raised the issue of backlog of visa applications from India with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the situation and said the United States had a plan to address it. “It is also in our mutual interest to facilitate the development and mobility of talent. We agreed that impediments over this should be addressed,” said Jaishankar addressing a joint press briefing with Blinken.

Noting that there is a keen interest in India's national education policy, Jaishankar said both countries will explore how that can best be served to expand partnership, reported news agency PTI.

"On mobility, specifically visas, this is particularly crucial given its centrality to education, business, technology, and family reunions,” said Jaishankar.

The foreign minister pointed out about challenges of late saying he has flagged the concerns with Blinken and his team. “I have every confidence that they will look at some of these problems seriously and positively,” said Jaishankar.

“On the question of visas, I'm extremely sensitive to this," Blinken said while responded to a question on the historic delays in visa appointments that now runs into 800 days. “Bear with us. This will play out over the next few months, but we're very focused on it,” Blinken added.

The US Secretary of State blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the backlog of visa applications from Indian nationals. "If it's any consolation, I can tell you that this is a challenge that we're facing around the world and it's a product largely of the COVID pandemic. Our ability to issue visas dropped dramatically during Covid,” he said further.

“When COVID hit, the demand for visas fell through the floor, visa fees went away, the system, as a whole, suffered. And then of course, in actually issuing visas, even with much more limited resources, we had constraints from COVID about the number of people we could have in our embassies at any one time, etc,” he said, as reported by PTI.

There are attempts from US visa services in clearing a backlog after it halted almost all visa processing worldwide in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Indians make up a large proportion of the recipients of H-1B and other work visas granted to skilled foreign workers, many in the tech industry.

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.