The United States (US) embassy in India has launched an initiative that will reduce visa processing time for first time applicants. As part of the initiative, the embassy will be conducting special visa interviews for those who are required to go for the in-person visa interviews, by deploying additional staff to speed up the visa process.

The initiative comes after recent applicants revealed the incredibly long wait for the visa processing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Applicants with previous US visas no longer need to do the in-person interviews. The new visa processing initiative will remotely process these applications. The consulate in Mumbai has extended their weekday working hours to accommodate more visa appointments for applicants from Mumbai. Those applying for student visa, H and L category visa, H-1B visa, B-1 business visa, B-2 tourist visa, and crews of shipping companies and airlines, are said to benefit from this new initiative.