The US has issued over one million non-immigrant visas to Indians for the second year in a row, including a record number of visitor visas, showcasing the huge demand for travelling to the US for tourism, business and education.
In the past four years, visitor numbers from India have increased by five times and over two million Indians travelled to the US in the first eleven months of 2024, a 26 per cent rise over the same period in 2023, the US Embassy and Consulates in India said in a statement.
The US Embassy in India said, “Over five million Indians already have a nonimmigrant visa to visit the United States and each day the Mission issues thousands more.”
The US Department of State completed a successful pilot program to renew of H-1B visas in the United States this year. This allowed many speciality occupation workers from India to renew their visas without leaving the US, according to the US Embassy in India statement. This pilot program streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the Department of State is working to formally create a US-based renewal program in
2025.
“The US Mission to India issued tens of thousands of immigrant visas, facilitating legal family reunification and the migration of skilled professionals. These immigrant visa
holders became permanent residents upon their arrival, adding to the already rich and sizable Indian diaspora community in the United States,” the statement said.
