US to start student visa application process from mid-May
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 May, 2023 03:47 PM
New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) The US will begin processing student visa applications for the Fall Session with the first batch of appointments available from mid-May.
"Attention students! In mid-May, the US Mission to India will open the first batch of appointments for the upcoming student visa season," the US Consulate General in Hyderabad announced via a tweet.
"Additional appointments will be released later in the season. Prepare for your appointments and stay tuned for more student visa related announcements," it said.
The US consulates processed nearly 1.25 lakh visa applications of students in India last year.
The country intends to increase visa interview appointments for Indian students by 30 per cent this summer.
In a much needed breather for students, the State Department announced in February that the 'F' and 'M' categories of student visas can now be issued up to a year in advance.
Previously, international students could apply only 120 days before the start of their study program.
Now they can submit their application 365 days in advance.
The development comes with the State Department announcing a hike in the fees of student visas.
Beginning May 30, the fees for non-petition based NIVs such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from $160 to $185 (Rs 15,140 for Indians).
WASHINGTON - The most powerful Democrat in the United States Congress says she believes members of Congress could vote on the new North American free-trade agreement before the end of the year.
Speaking to Gulf News, Sultan said her husband used to assault her regularly and that he had taken away her and children's passports and all her gold jewellery, worth Dirham 60,000.
Federal Interior Minister Ijaz Shah said Sikhs expressed joy over the arrangements regarding the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak and opening of the Kartarpur Corridor project.
A total of 7,120 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies around the country last year, slightly down from 7,175 in 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Tuesday, adding that this involved 8,496 offenses.
Republican Senator from Indiana Todd Young, who has introduced a resolution in the Senate on the occasion, said the Sikh-Americans had succeeded in making a profound impact across the US because they followed the teachings of the first Sikh guru.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's former wife, Reham Khan, has won "substantial" damages and received an apology from a Pakistani news channel over defamatory allegations by a government minister during a show last year.
