Over 1 million nonimmigrant visas, including a record number of guest visas, were granted to Indians by the US mission in 2024. With almost two million Indians visiting the US in the first 11 months, this is the second year in a row that demand for travel to the US has been high.
The US mission in India said last week that more than 1 million non-immigrant visas, including a record number of guest visas, were granted to Indians in 2024. The fact that these figures are so high for the second year in a row highlights how much demand there is for Indian travel to the US."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," according to a readout.
Over two million Indians visited the US in the first 11 months of 2024, a 26% rise over the same period in 2023, according to the report, which also noted that the number of Indian visitors had climbed fivefold in the last four years.
According to the embassy, more than five million Indians currently hold nonimmigrant visas that allow them to go to the US, and the mission issues hundreds more every day.
According to the summary, tens of thousands of immigrant visas were issued by the US embassy to India, allowing qualified professionals to migrate and allowing for legal family reunification.
Upon their arrival, these immigrant visa holders became permanent residents, contributing to the already substantial and affluent Indian diaspora group in the United States, the statement stated.
US H1B visa renewal
The State Department effectively implemented a pilot scheme this year that permitted H-1B visa renewals within the United States, the embassy added. This made it possible for a large number of Indian workers in specialized occupations to extend their visas without having to travel abroad.
"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 stated.
The student visa record number
"More Indian students than ever before have U.S. student visas," the mission stated, giving information regarding visas granted to Indian students. With nearly 331,000 students studying in the US overall, India overtook all other countries as the largest source of international students in 2024 for the first time since the 2008–2009 school year.
Additionally, it stated that for the second year in a row, India continued to be the top source of foreign graduate students sent to the US.
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