US issues 1 mn plus nonimmigrant visas to Indians for 2nd year in row

New Delhi: The United States administration issued more than one million nonimmigrant visas to Indians for the second year in a row, according to the US mission in India on Friday. The country also issued a record number of visitor visas.

The US State Department successfully implemented a pilot programme for H-1B visa renewals within the United States, which is expected to benefit a lot of Indian speciality occupation workers. These workers could renew their visas without leaving the country, The Times of India reported. Also, the department will formally establish the said domestic renewal programme in 2025.

"This pilot program streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the Department of State is working to formally establish a US-based renewal program in 2025," it said.

Also, India reached the top in sending most of the students to the US in 2024, with more than 3,31,000 Indian students getting enrolled in the US. This is the first time India has come to the top since the 2008-09 academic year, the US mission said in a statement.

In the past four years, visitor numbers from India have increased by five times, and more than two million Indians travelled to the US in the first 11 months of 2024, a 26 per cent increase over the same period in 2023, the US mission in India said. It added that more than five million Indians already have a nonimmigrant visa to visit the US, and each day, the mission issues thousands more, PTI reported.

"The US mission to India issued more than one million nonimmigrant visas for the second year in a row, including a record number of visitor visas, underscoring the huge demand of Indians for travel to the United States for tourism, business, and education," it said in a readout.