US visa alert! VFS global to temporarily shut down application process on THESE dates
US embassy mentioned that visa application process- appointment booking, calls, and fee payments-- will be resumed from 15 July. US Embassy in India took to their Twitter handle, “Attention visa applicants! Our customer service center VFS is migrating to a new platform and will be temporarily closed for calls, fee payments, and appointment booking from July 12-14. These services will resume on July 15." VFS Global is the world's largest outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions.
The company manages the administrative and non-judgmental tasks related to visa, passport and consular services for its client governments. Meanwhile, United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti in June informed that the wait time for first-time tourist visa interviews in the United States has been reduced by over 50%. Addressing the audience at IIT Delhi, Garcetti said, "We're already doing this.
We're currently processing more visas, faster, than the US Mission in India ever has before. We have set a goal for ourselves to process at least a million visas in 2023, and we're already more than halfway towards reaching that goal." Indians have been traveling abroad more, particularly to the United States as it is trying to accommodate the new tourism boom by opening two new consulates in the South Asian country, according to a report published by Reuters.
For the first time in 2022, India became Asia's highest source of international travelers. The international travelers from India exceeded those of China, South Korea, and Japan last year, the tourism consultancy IPK International said.
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