U.S. Legislators Want Government to Prioritize Visa Wait Times

25.08.2023 - 13:26 / skift.com / Alan Joyce / Amrita Ghosh / Qantas Airways

Top U.S. lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to address the visa wait time issue in India on a priority basis. Visa delays are the single biggest impediment to exponential growth in travel between the U.S. and India. The U.S. Consulate’s all-hands-on-deck approach — such as bringing processing staff in on weekends, making embassies available to Indian nationals in other countries and hiring more staff — has reduced the wait times in the country by 50 percent, from an average of 669 days in mid-March to 337 days in early April, according to the U.S. Travel Association. 

India is one of the U.S.’s top source markets that are experiencing long visa processing times. Applicants in India had an especially absurd wait time. In January, for example, they had to wait 999 days for an interview at the Mumbai embassy. In another development, U.S. Consul General Mike Hankey said earlier in April that the country also aims to increase visa interview appointments for Indian studentsby 30 percent. The U.S. embassy processed more than 200,000 visas to India till February this year and aims to process one million visas by 2023-end.

India is the new China as international travel rebounds, Qantas Airways CEO Alan Joyce told Bloomberg TV. “The Chinese market remains very weak at about half the level it was before Covid. We think India has better growth prospects than China for us and we are putting more capacity in,” Joyce said. A 2023 Skift megatrend highlighted how India is set to be the new China in the reordering of travel in Asia. Aviation consultancy and research firm CAPA India predicts that Indian airlines’ 932 aircraft on order excluding Air India’s recently-placed record 470 jet orders — and more large orders expected later this year — is destined for at least as much growth as China’s, which has more than 4,000 aircraft in service. India has already generated Asia’s highest outbound travel volume for the first time in 2022, with foreign trips exceeding those of China, South Korea, and Japan.

Taj Corbett Resort and Spa in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand has unveiled a collection of 11 suites, in addition to the nine luxury suites already in operation. Each suite boasts floor to ceiling French windows and a private river-facing sit-out space. Located amidst the Himalayan foothills, the resort spans over 11 acres featuring 75 cottage-style rooms. Just last month, Taj-parent Indian Hotels Company reported its highest-ever full year consolidated revenue and a profit after tax of $122 million — a historic first for the company. Last year, having signed 36 new contracts, the company opened 16 hotels and still has almost 73 hotels in the pipeline. 

India has one of the best airfare regimes in the