India has taken up the issue of delays and difficulties in scheduling H1-B visa appointments with the US authorities, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday (December 26).
Speaking to reporters, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Government was “actively” engaged with the US authorities to address the visa-related issues, although they fall under the “sovereign domain” of the issuing country.
‘Received representations over visa delay’
“Yes, the government of India has received several representations from Indian nationals who are facing delays or problems with rescheduling of their visa appointments. While we do understand that visa related issue pertains to the sovereign domain of any country,” said Jaiswal.
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“We have flagged these issues and our concerns to the US side, both here in New Delhi and in Washington DC. We hope that these delays and disruptions will be addressed,” he added as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
‘Families facing hardship’
Elaborating further, the MEA stated that due to the delay in scheduling of visa interviews, several people have been stranded for an extended period, adding that it has caused lots of hardships of their families.
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“There was a communication from the US government also that, with effect from December 15th, they have expanded their review process or processes that they have, which covers speciality occupation temporary H-1b visa applicants, and it applies to the dependents who are covered under the H4 category visa. This particular change that they have introduced applies globally to all countries,” said Jaiswal.
“The government remains actively engaged with the US side to address the issue and minimise the impact on Indian nationals,” he added.
The backdrop
The mass cancellation of scheduled interviews of the H-1B visa applicants in view of the enhanced vetting measures has resulted in significant delays in their return to the US.
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The rescheduling of the interviews is for all applicants who were previously given appointments from December 15 onwards.
Most of them were already in India and are now unable to return to the US pending their new interview dates, since they don’t have a valid H1B visa to travel back to the US for their jobs.
(With agency inputs)
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