State Department official: US issued a record 1,25,000 student visas for Indians in 2022

Amid concerns over US visa backlogs, the United States embassy and consulates in India issued nearly 1,25,000 student visas in the fiscal year 2022, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price has said.

Price, while acknowledging the delay in clearing visas, added that the embassy, however, broke their record.

"Our embassy and consulates in India broke their record for the number of student visas issued in the single fiscal year 2022. We have issued nearly 1,25,000 student visas," he said.

Adding that the timely visa processing is important to the US economy and the administration's goal, Ned Price said the US is also committed to safeguarding national security while facilitating legitimate travel to non-immigrant travellers.

On the delay, Price said that the US is doing everything to process visas quickly.

This comes as S Jaishankar in September raised the issue of visa backlog with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who informed Jaishankar that he is sensitive to the matter and had a plan to address it.

The delay and subsequent backlog happened after Washington the US halted almost all visa processing worldwide in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

A senior US Embassy official too had exuded confidence in India saying that New Delhi is expected to surpass China in getting the number of visas by 2023 and will be ranked two in the issuance of visas after Mexico. "We expect that India will surpass China in getting the number of US visas by next year's summer. After Mexico, India is expected to rank number 2 in the issuance of US Visas," the official said in September.

"For various kinds of visas, we would not have much wait time. Each separate category has some wait time," a senior US Embassy official added. He added that India is a number one priority for Washington right now.