Demand For Indian Visas Drops From U.S.

The number of visas issued by the Indian embassy in Washington and four other consulates in the US — Houston, San Francisco, Chicago and New York — has dropped by more than a l100,000 in the past one year. In the year 2011, as many as 344,458 Indian visas were issued by the Indian diplomatic missions in the US, which dropped to 239,996 visas.

This is a significant drop of over 30 percent in one year. In the year 2010, as many as 335,025 visas were issued.

These figures are the direct result of NRIs facing many hurdles in getting visas from Indian consulates with new rules that are cumbersome and the usual harassment shelled out by processing staff. This has turned off many NRIs from visiting their homeland and thus the drop in demand for visas.It would be interesting to see the numbers from Canada whether there has been a drop here. But no data is currently available for Canada.

These figures were released by the Indian embassy on its website in response to the questions asked by the prospective bidders for outsourcing of visas by the Indian embassy in Washington and its four other Consulates in Houston, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

The fifth Consulate in Atlanta has started its operation from the first of this month.

The Indian embassy has cancelled a contract for visa outsourcing awarded to an Indian firm in July.

BLS International Services, whose contract has been cancelled by the embassy, was scheduled to replace Travisa for visa processing with effect from October 1.Without giving any justification and reasoning, the Indian embassy has issued a fresh bid for visa outsourcing on contract on October 10.

The contract of Travisa, which expired on September 30, has been extended by three months.

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