The US government has released the first set of visa appointments for students in India, the US consulate general of Hyderabad said in a post on May 7.
The US agency said the first set of appointments will take place in late May, adding that the additional appointments for June, July and August will be released in the next few weeks.
“The first tranche of student visa appointments for interviews in late May has been released. In the coming weeks, we’ll release additional appointment tranches for June, July, and August. Check out @educationusa's resources for prospective students to make sure you’re ready for success!”
Also read: US issued record 1.4 million visas to Indians in 2023
Earlier, it was reported that global visa applications for the US by skilled workers have plunged close to 40 percent following the steps taken by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to curb fraudulent practices.
Also read: H-1B applications plunge 40% as US cracks down on fraud entries
The lottery bids for the H-1B visa plunged to 470,342, down 38 percent from 758,994 last year, USCIS said in a report. The lottery was held in the last week of March.
In its initial list, USCIS said it has selected 114,017 beneficiaries, resulting in 120,603 selected registrations for FY25 H-1B cap.
“This year, USCIS took measures to secure the H-1B registration process. Our initial data suggests that there were far fewer attempts than last year to gain an unfair advantage owing in large measure to the implementation of the beneficiary-centric selection process," the agency had said last week.
The US agency said it has undertaken an overhaul of the lottery system to ensure that all the applicants have a fair shot. It said that a few firms were found to be working in tandem to submit multiple bids for the same applicant.
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