India and the United States are working closely to counter the challenges of visa fraud posed by middlemen taking advantage of the gullibility of some Indian travelers applying for American visa, top US officials said on Wednesday.
"You need no middlemen," Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Maura Harty cautioned Indian visa applicants and asked them not to fall prey to visa frauds.
"An applicant need not come through an agent to take an appointment or have an interview in a consulate," she said, addressing the media in New Delhi.
"We caution visa applicants not to be fooled by advertisement for visa documents and packages or promises of guaranteed visas," said Harty.
"Our advise to applicants is to check our website, apply early and be prepared to be truthful if there are reasons for going to the United States," she said, warning that the US had neither changed the qualifications required for visa nor relaxed its vigilance against fraudulent visa applications.
She, however, admitted that there were no statistics readily available on the number of cases involving middlemen in visa fraud that had come to light in the last years.
Harty said complete authoritative information on the subject of visa application was available at the website www.newdelhi.usembassy.gov.
There has been an increase of 58 per cent in visa applications received by the four US consulates in the country as compared to 2006. Harty said the four consulates processed 7.25 lakh visa applications in 2007.
Highlighting the efforts made by the Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Mission India in reducing visa application waiting time, Harty said, "We feel very strongly that whatever experience or service they (visa applicants) are looking for at the Embassy should result in an experience that is dignified, well-informed, efficient, effective and transparent."
"We embrace that kind of exchange and we welcome these visitors... we want foreigner to come and see our country," she said, reiterating the belief that the 'best advertisement for America is America.'
Elaborating on her plans to meet students in Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai, she said students came high on the priority of the consular affairs wing.
She said more than 80,000 Indian students were studying in the US, the highest from any country, and over 50,000 student visa applications had been received this year.
"The Embassy and consulates provided expedited appointment scheduling for students because we do not want a single student to miss the first day in class unless they failed to do their home work on us," said Harty.
Foreign visitors account for $105 billion in spending in the US. The US State Department of commerce reported 4.07 lakh arrivals from India in 2006.
In 2007, year ending September 30, the US issued 3.3 million tourist and business visas worldwide and out these 17 per cent were issued in India.
