US embassy expects to clear student visa backlogs before fall | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
December 12, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Food
    • Habitat
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Multimedia
    • TBS Graduates
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Tech
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023
US embassy expects to clear student visa backlogs before fall

Education

BSS
26 July, 2022, 12:10 pm
Last modified: 26 July, 2022, 03:24 pm

Related News

  • US, 13 others reconfirm support to defend and advance human rights in Bangladesh
  • US Embassy Dhaka issues warning against fake profiles created in their name
  • US Embassy in Dhaka to limit public services on Sunday
  • Israel-Hamas conflict: US embassy in Dhaka flies flag at half-staff as Bangladesh observes Day of Mourning
  • US Embassy invites applications for 2024-25 Fulbright Program

US embassy expects to clear student visa backlogs before fall

"We are doing everything we can to clear the backlog, the embassy is really prioritising this," a consular officer of the US embassy said.

BSS
26 July, 2022, 12:10 pm
Last modified: 26 July, 2022, 03:24 pm
Photo: Reuters
Photo: Reuters

The US embassy in Dhaka has said they were hopeful to clear a huge backlog of student visas ahead of the fall session as its consular section was engaged in processing them even on Friday weekends.

"We are doing everything we can to clear the backlog, the embassy is really prioritising this," a consular officer of the US embassy told BSS.

She said the consular section was hopeful to clear the backlogs by fall as a group of officials were engaged only in processing the student visas intending to attend the fall semester in US universities.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The US embassy's consular section is faced with the backlog of both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications due to Covid-19 pandemic while many Bangladeshi students are particularly waiting for a visa interview appointment to catch their in-person classes in the US universities.

Officials of the section said they were making special efforts by working on Friday to ensure as many students as possible receive interviews before the start of the fall semester.

"We know how frustrating it is for a student for this backlog . . . so we are working very hard to clear the backlog, that's why we are working on Fridays (as) it's a priority for us" the consular officer said on Friday last.

She said on Friday last alone they interviewed over 600 students who applied for visas.

The US Embassy Dhaka decided to hold another "Super Friday" on Friday, July 29 as part of a campaign to allow the mission to meet high demand for such visas.

"We really want to make sure that we can process as many visas as possible, so students can go to the US," said the officer.

The US embassy is providing emergency appointment dates to those students who fail to get a visa interview appointment slot before the start of their scheduled class in the US universities.

"We recognize the unique opportunity that study in the United States offers and we are prioritising student visa interviews," said US Embassy Consul General William Dowers marking the "Super Friday" initiative.

An undergrad student, Zerin Ali , who intends to join University of Chicago in the coming fall semester said she first got a visa interview appointment slot on March 15 in 2023, "but my class is scheduled to start in late September this year".

Ali said after failing to get an appointment date before her class started, she applied for the emergency appointment dates and after 10 days she received an email confirming her fresh interview date on Friday, July 22.

"I thought the visa process would be very complicated, but I was wrong . . . it went smoothly," she said at the consular section after getting the visa on Friday.

A PhD student named Shita Biswash also expressed her joy after getting the emergency interview appointment date on Super Friday.

"I am delighted to get the emergency interview appointment date, otherwise it would have been difficult for me to join my PhD programme," she said, who applied for the student visa including her spouse Anik Kumar as dependent.

The US embassy officials said the number of Bangladeshi students in the United States nearly tripled in the past one decade saying the figure was currently over 8,500 annually.

According to the 2021 report of Institute of International Education Open Doors, Bangladesh currently ranks 14th among the top-sending countries of students to the US from around the world, while the country's ranking in the index was 17 in the 2019-2020 academic year.

The US embassy in a statement, meanwhile, said the United States remained a popular destination for higher education while during the 2020-2021 academic year, it welcomed over 914,000 international students from over 200 countries of origin.

It said anyone interested in educational opportunities in the US could learn about them through EducationUSA, a global network of over 430 educational advising centres operating in more than 175 countries and territories around the world.

Bangladesh

US embassy Dhaka / Student visa

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Domestic airlines lose passengers to better road, rail service
    Domestic airlines lose passengers to better road, rail service
  • Lieutenant General Waker-Uz-Zaman, principal staff of the army, and Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam briefed media after a meeting on army deployment during the upcoming election. Photo: Collected
    JS polls: Army likely to be deployed on 29 December for 13 days
  • Representational Image
    Three buses set on fire in Ashulia, Tikatuli, Motijheel

MOST VIEWED

  • 10m barrel oil, 300b cubic feet gas found in Sylhet
    10m barrel oil, 300b cubic feet gas found in Sylhet
  •  ZARA ATELIER. Collection 04; The Jacket. Photo: Collected
    When art imitates cruelty: Dissecting Zara’s latest shoot
  • Photo: euronews
    Apps that use AI to undress women in photos soaring in use
  • The two metre long fossil is one of the most complete specimens of its type ever discovered. Photo: BBC
    Skull of huge sea monster Pliosaur discovered in UK's Dorset cliffs
  • Jamal Jamaloo: The song, dance and magic
    Jamal Jamaloo: The song, dance and magic
  • Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez visited Ramy Youssef's comedy club in Brooklyn. Photo: Collected
    Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez extend support for Gaza relief at fundraiser event

Related News

  • US, 13 others reconfirm support to defend and advance human rights in Bangladesh
  • US Embassy Dhaka issues warning against fake profiles created in their name
  • US Embassy in Dhaka to limit public services on Sunday
  • Israel-Hamas conflict: US embassy in Dhaka flies flag at half-staff as Bangladesh observes Day of Mourning
  • US Embassy invites applications for 2024-25 Fulbright Program

Features

Photo: Collected

Top budget-friendly geysers in the market right now

9h | Brands
Photo: Courtesy

Hazy Official: Scrunchies dipped in self-love

10h | Brands
Leaving the Desolation by Andrew Rogov via Pixels.

Delineating the depths of desolation…

9h | Features
Shashtho Chaka – Healthcare on Wheels has two buses, they plan to use one bus for the urban slums and another one for remote areas in villages.  Photos: Courtesy

Shashtho Chaka: Driving healthcare up to the doorstep of the poor

16h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Girona's Champions League hopes are still in stake

Girona's Champions League hopes are still in stake

4h | TBS SPORTS
How much Manchester United will earn from Champions League

How much Manchester United will earn from Champions League

3h | TBS SPORTS
Bangladeshi textile millers seek loan concession, increased LC limit

Bangladeshi textile millers seek loan concession, increased LC limit

2h | TBS Economy
The President of Argentina in the White House

The President of Argentina in the White House

5h | TBS World
EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]