Headed to US? Your visa may be delayed

New Delhi: If you don’t have a US visa you may have to reschedule your trip. 

Due to a global technical problem the US Embassy has cancelled visa appointments next week.

“All non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled at the US Embassy in New Delhi or the U.S. Consulates General in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, or Hyderabad during the period June 22 to June 26, 2015 are cancelled,” according to a statement by the US embassy.

“The Department of State continues to experience technical problems with our visa systems. This is a global issue, and we are working around the clock to fix it,” the embassy said.

Officials say that more than 100 computer experts from both the private and public sectors across the United States are working on this problem 24/7, but they do not expect the system will be online before next week.

“Unfortunately, this has caused a serious delay in our operations,” said an official.

“Once the systems are fully operational, we will work as quickly as possible to clear the backlog of pending visa cases,” the State Department said in an update online.

It said it does not believe the problems stem from any cyber-security hacking issues.

What now? 

Emergency visas are, however, being issued and are being processed manually, the spokesperson of the embassy said.

“Visa applicants with appointments during that same period are requested to reschedule their appointments for biometric enrollment and visa interview to a date after July 6, 2015. There is no need to contact the call center or customer support—simply login to your visa appointment system profile and reschedule both of your appointments,” according to the embassy.

US not only attracts a large number of tourists but also a whopping 90,000 applicants from India for student visa applications. This number has gone up by 60% increase this year, and so the number of people affected through this technical error could be really large.