India takes up delay in student visas with 8 countries including US, UK, Canada
India strongly raised the issue of student visas Tamil News: Many Indian students studying abroad have complained to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about delays in the visa process. In this context, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has urged the ambassadors and vice presidents of eight countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany, to expedite the process of issuing visas.
“Foreign Ministry officials dealing with Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States have had constructive discussions with relevant leaders and senior ambassadors on regulating visas for Indian students,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Arindam Paxi said. Tweeted.
He added in his Twitter post that he “agreed to further facilitate the process and expedite monitoring because the students would benefit from each other.”
Foreign Ministry officials (joint secretaries dealing with these countries) who spoke to The Indian Express said that they had “raised strong voices with the ambassadors and vice presidents of these eight countries on the issue of student visas” and asked Indian officials to do “three things” to streamline the process: , To monitor the visa process expeditiously and to communicate with student visa applicants in a timely manner. ”
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Indian side, which does not normally intervene in foreign visa issues, was forced to take action as the number of requests from Indian students was “too high” as the issuance of visas was considered a sovereign decision.
Students who have already paid for their education programs can approach these embassies and higher commissions and wait for their visas as visa opportunities are not available. And many have complained about the lack of response from these.
A Western State Department official who spoke to The Indian Express said the work was facing an unprecedented number of applicants due to post-epidemic tourism and students, employment and business trips. We have limited resources. Also there is a capacity issue in our work. This is not due to reluctance, but due to lack of capacity, we could not process many applications due to the tight deadline, ”he said.
The pressure on the embassies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Germany is high. Because these countries are places where education is sought. Although the number of student visa applicants is not available, according to data shared by the State Department in Parliament in July 2021, there are 2,11,930 Indian students in the United States, 55,465 in the UK, 92,383 in Australia, 2,15,720 in Canada, and 20,810 in Germany.
While the Immigration Bureau of the Government of India holds the data of all students going abroad on student visas, there is currently no database on the number of students waiting for visas.
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