US embassy takes steps to clear visa backlog

The US embassy has adopted a comprehensive plan to reduce visa backlogs and some measures like consular operations on weekly holidays have already started to lessen wait times for many aspirant travellers, its consul general has said.

Nathan Flook, however, declined to give an approximate timeline when the ongoing backlog would ease significantly or diminish but claimed that visa congestion has reduced.

The process would take some time to have full impact, Flook said at a press briefing at The American Center in the capital, adding that staff members are working to this end. He urged patience of all.

As a matter of fact, a lot of people in Bangladesh want to travel to the US and the demand is particularly high after the Covid-19 backlog, he said, adding that the congestion cannot be resolved overnight but the embassy has a comprehensive plan to work with. 

Similar to disruptions in other services, the Covid-19 pandemic forced major reductions in the US visa processing capacity.

Flook was confident of getting more resources in the future to reduce the backlog. 

He mentioned that the embassy issued over 7,400 F-1 student visas in 2022, more than any year in the past decade.

Over the last six months, consular staff members have worked at weekends and interviewed non-immigrant and immigrant visa applicants on special days called "Super Friday".

"During these Super Fridays, we have interviewed over 3,400 non-immigrant visa applicants, including students and tourists, and almost 600 immigrant visa applicants to reduce wait times," the consul general noted.  

About extra money to get visas faster, he said it does not work at a professional workplace like the US embassy. 

"Some applicants use a travel agency or a consultant to book a non-immigrant visa appointment, but there is no requirement to do so. You can book appointments directly on our website. There is no additional cost to make an appointment; it is included in the application fee," he added.

He urged applicants to remain cautious over presenting false information and documents as these will not only result in a visa denial but may also render the candidate ineligible for future US travel.