U.S. - India Visa News (White House)

White House, June 22, 2023

• Domestic Visa Renewals:  The U.S. Department of State will launch a pilot this year to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas, including for Indian nationals, who will no longer be required to leave the country for renewal in eligible categories.  The Department of State will implement this for an expanded pool of H1B and L visa holders in 2024, with the aim of broadening the program to include other eligible categories.
• New Consulates:  The United States intends to open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.  India looks forward to opening its consulate in Seattle later this year, and to announcing two new consulates in the United States. 
• Student Exchanges and Scholarships:  The United States last year issued 125,000 visas to Indian students, a record.  Indian students are on pace to become the largest foreign student community in the United States, with a 20 percent increase last year alone.  India and the United States have launched a new Joint Task Force of the Association of American Universities and leading Indian educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology.  Councils on each side have prepared interim recommendations for expanding research and university partnerships between the two countries.  Additional Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowships for research, administered by the U.S.-India Educational Fund, will advance cooperation between leading scholars in India and the United States on climate change.  The United States is enabling up to 100 additional U.S. undergraduate students to study or intern in India via the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. New funding for Department of State Study Abroad Engagement Grants will extend new study abroad engagement grant funding to bolster Indian academic institutions’ capacity to develop study abroad programming with U.S. colleges and universities.  India is also funding the establishment of a Tamil Studies Chair at the University of Houston and welcomes the appointment to the Vivekananda Visiting Professorship at the University of Chicago.