Effective noon Wednesday November 8, the US government has scrapped the US $50 reciprocal issuance fee for all non-immigrant visas for Indian citizens, a cut of 33 per cent in the visa cost.
Applicants will still be required to pay the $100 non-refundable application fee at a designated HDFC bank branch before scheduling a visa interview. "I am pleased to announce this reduction in charges, and hope it encourages more Indian business people and tourists to travel to America," US ambassador to India David C. Mulford said in New Delhi.
In Mumbai, Glen Keiser, the consular section chief at the American Consulate General, explained that the reciprocal fee was usually decided on the basis of how much the other nation charged for visas for American citizens.
The cost of a 10 year Indian tourist visa was approximately $150, but the short term visas were cheaper. Given that most Americans opted for the shorter term visas, the US Bureau of Consular Affairs had decided to unilaterally waive the reciprocal fees for Indian citizens, he said.
The bureau had also facilitated the need to cut the waiting period for American visas by "almost doubling" the number of consular staff in India, he said. This had helped cut the waiting period from almost six months earlier to seven working days now, he said.
According to Keiser, India, China, Mexico and Brazil were among the "biggest clients" in terms of US visa applicants, and the consular bureau was trying
Figures issued by the US consulate indicate that the number of non-immigrant visas issued by the consulate general in Mumbai --the busiest American COnsular operation in South Asia--per month have almost doubled from 6,246 in November 2005 to 11,109 in October this year.
Interestingly, the number of immigrant visas issued have declined from 1,120 in November 2005 to 892 for October 2006.
Keiser, however, said it would be unfair to compare the figures, since the immigrant visas were a totally different process, and the decline in their number could probably be attributed to a longer waiting period towards the end of the year caused to the quota available to each country.
For a complete list of visa fees and other information about US visas, applicants are advised to visit any of the following websites:
* US Embassy New Delhi
* US Consulate Kolkata
* US Consulate Mumbai
* US Consulate Chennai
*To make an online appointment using the new Visa Facilitation Service system, click here.
