External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Jaishankar told about the visa problems being faced by Indians. On this, the top US diplomat said that he is sensitive to this matter and it will be corrected as soon as possible. Jaishankar said that it is also in our mutual interest to facilitate the development and mobility of talent.
Jaishankar said this in a joint press conference with Blinken at the State Department’s Foggy Bottom headquarters after a meeting of more than an hour.
After March 2020, the lockdown was announced all over the world due to corona virus. Since then, people are facing a lot of difficulties in getting visa. However, now the top US official has assured India that they will end the entire backlog as soon as possible. Indians make up a large proportion of the recipients of H-1B and other work visas granted to many skilled foreign workers in the tech industry. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialized occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. However, the Indian External Affairs Minister did not specifically mention the H-1B visa issue during the joint press conference.
According to online media reports, a large number of Indian students also go to America for studies. The waiting period for Indians seeking visitor visa to the US has increased to 800 days. The waiting period for student/exchange visitor visas and other non-immigrant visas is approximately 400 days.
Jaishankar said that there is a keen interest in India’s national education policy. We’ll figure out how this might work best to expand our partnership.
On the question of visa, Blinken said that I am very sensitive to it. Blinken blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the backlog of visa applications for Indian nationals. He said that I can tell you that this is a challenge that we are facing all over the world and it has arisen largely due to the COVID pandemic. Our ability to issue visas has decreased during COVID. Blinken said he has a plan to deal with it.
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