With the purpose of attracting more tourists from India, the United States has reportedly declared that the qualified visa applicants will be allowed to submit their applications for US visa without the need for going through a personal interview.
In this context, Mrs. Nancy J. Powell, the US Ambassador to India was quoted as saying that US Department of State has recently executed a program which will allow a number of applicants to submit their visa applications without a personal interview at the office of US consular.
Under this Interview Waiver Scheme, it will be much easier for Indian nationals to visit the United States for business or holiday purpose.
To qualify, the applicants should have:
- A previous visa of United States in the same stream as the visa program for which the applicant intends to renew;
- Their earlier visa granted in India;
- No refusals for any stream visa after the issuance of the applicant’s most recent visa.
However, the officials at Consular office will be the authority for interviewing the applicants whom they would decide to have a need for a personal interview.
In this connection, Mrs. Powell further went on to add that travel and tourism to the United States is a very significant way for them to spread out their cultural and business ties and boost commercial development between these nations. Total expenditure by Indian nationals traveling to the United States was $4.6 billion previous year, i.e., an increase of 15% from the year before.
