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To give some context, the waiting period for the same category is over 400 days in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. While people wonder why such a huge difference, some have started getting curious if Chennai has the least number of applicants who want to study in the US. Sumeet Jain, Co-founder at Yocket, spoke to Mint and clarified the confusion.
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“No, it doesn't mean that Chennai has fewer applicants than all the others just based on this. These are just placeholder dates. When the slots open up, we will see the appointments much sooner than this," Jain said.
Ajay Sharma, Founder and President – Abhinav Immigration Services, said, "The visa appointment waiting time depends on the staff present at the consulate and the available slots. US immigration authorities are struggling with granting Non-immigrant visa and student visa to Indians students which led to procedural delays in many cities."
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According to Jain, if your nearest city - be it Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai or Hyderabad - has a much longer waiting period, you may apply in Chennai instead. There is no rule that bars Indian students from applying from any particular city as they are allowed to apply from any consulate in the country.
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Meanwhile, Don Heflin - US Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs - explained the reason behind such a long waiting time. He blamed it on the low number of staff at the visa centres. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and for a while after, they only had about 50% staff in the visa consulates. However, as per Heflin, the good news is the recovery from the pandemic is strong and the staffing problem is being handled.
