US issues 82,000 visas to Indian students in 2022

|HT|

US missions in India have issued 82,000 student visas so far in 2022, higher than in any previous year, and Indian students received more American student visas than any other country.

The US embassy in New Delhi and the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai prioritised the processing of student visa applications from May to August to ensure that as many qualified students as possible made it to their programmes of study in time for scheduled start dates, the embassy said in a statement.

“We issued over 82,000 student visas this summer alone, more than in any previous year. This shows that the United States remains for most Indian families the most sought-after country for higher education,” said charge d’affaires Patricia Lacina, the senior-most US diplomat in India.

“We are happy to see so many students were able to receive visas and reach their universities after the delays caused in previous years by the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

This also highlights the important contributions Indian students “make to both our countries as they build life-long connections with American peers to maintain and grow international partnerships”, Lacina said.

Don Heflin, the minister counsellor for consular affairs, said, “International student mobility is central to US diplomacy, and nowhere is the contribution of students bigger than in India.”

Indian students comprise nearly 20% of all international students in the US, with the “Open Doors” report in 2021 showing there were 167,582 students from India during the 2020-21 academic year.

The US has remained open to international students throughout the pandemic, and the US government and higher education institutions implemented measures in 2020 to safely welcome international students in-person, online and via hybrid learning methods.

Students seeking assistance about studying in the US can download the EducationUSA India app, which provides the latest information about the college application process and helps plan for higher education in the US.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)