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).
An Indian visitor presumed missing has been found in a jail in Abu Dhabi for over-staying and will be repatriated, a senior Indian Embassy official said.
Many H-4 visa holders are highly skilled professionals, and the DHS previously extended eligibility for employment authorisation to them recognising the economic burdens of families of many H-1B workers.
A British Sikh group lobbying for Sikhism to be added as a separate ethnicity tick box in the next UK census in 2021 is considering taking legal action against the UK government over its rejection of such a categorisation.
The two-term parliamentarian Hema Malini will not be there to support her stepson Sunny Deol in his Lok Sabha debut, at least not during the parliamentary sessions.
The Bengali actress, who took a plunge into politics, was brutally trolled online for posting pictures in western outfit with another actress-turned-politician Nusrat Jahan, in front of Parliament.
