The US visitor visa interview appointment dates are still 320 to 400 days away from today. B1/B2 visa interview appointments at the US Consulate in Kolkata have the longest wait time (400 days), whereas 320 days is the shortest wait time for in-person visitor visa interview dates in Chennai as of today. B1/B2 visa seekers are required to wait 360 days for interview appointments at the US Mission in New Delhi. Precisely, the US tourist visa interview appointment delay stretches into 2024 in India due to a huge visa backlog.
The uncertainty, driven by the long visa delay, of reuniting with their parents and other family members continues to cause emotional distress to many Indian immigrants and non-immigrants in the US. Indian parents are missing out on important events in the US, such as childbirth, marriage anniversary celebration, housewarming, and graduation ceremony. However, Indian American Sunil Dhar, who lives in San Francisco, has found a way to bypass the US visitor visa delay for his son’s would-be in-laws from Delhi.
His younger son will get married in June in the United States, but the bride’s parents and other family members are facing the long B2 visa interview wait time in New Delhi. Reportedly, Sunil Dhar is trying hard to ensure that his would-be daughter-in-law’s parents attend the wedding in the US as wedding is a significant event in Indian culture and a Hindu wedding is incomplete without certain rituals that a bride’s parents perform. In 2022, some of Sunil Dhar’s extended family members from India could not attend his elder son’s wedding in San Francisco due to various visa-related issues.
To avoid the visa-related issue this time, Sunil Dhar is making certain arrangements so that his guests from India can enter the US without a visa and bless the couple. He is shifting the wedding venue from the Bay Area further up the West Coast. The wedding will take place in Blaine near Seattle, Washington State. “The Peace Arch Park on the US-Canada border, the northern boundary of Blaine City, has been selected as the wedding venue. “Interestingly, the park is a visa neutral zone without immigration checkpoints.”
The bride’s family from India has the Canadian visa. They can enter the park via British Columbia without having a US visa and facing any immigration check. Hence, the bride’s parents and other guests will travel to Canada from Delhi, instead of booking Delhi to San Francisco flight tickets. The northern half of the park is in Canada and the southern half stretches into the US. They will enter the park from the northern half and attend the wedding in the southern half.
There is an alternate way out of the US visitor visa interview delay in India. Indian nationals seeking B1/B2 visas can apply at the US Mission/consulates in international destinations, such as Kuwait City, Japan, and Seoul where the US tourist visa wait time is only 2 days. But this alternative is not feasible for everyone, especially senior citizens traveling alone. Indian nationals require a valid visa to enter Kuwait, Japan, and South Korea. Not everyone can afford the cost of obtaining a B1/B2 visa outside of India.
