Managing the queue: Visa wait time to reduce by June 2023, says US embassy

The State Department has brought in new rules for several visa categories that allow more people to opt out of interviews

The average wait time for an US visa appointment is likely to improve to pre-Covid levels only by June 2023, according to American embassy officials in New Delhi.

High demand for US visas has pushed up processing time for visa appointments for most non-immigrant visas to historic highs, a situation that is expected to persist for the next six months.

“By next summer (June-July 2023), we expect to take in as many applications as we were accepting pre-Covid,” a senior US Embassy official said. This, he added, will reduce the overall pending appointments but may not necessarily reduce the processing