Currently, the US visitor visa interview appointments are 2 to 8 months away from today, depending on the US Embassy and Consulates in India. The wait time was equally unprecedented in 2022 and 2023 following the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-2023, the longest wait time for B1/B2 visa interview appointments in India was 400 days. It stretched into the year 2024 for those who wanted to travel to the US in mid-2023. Precisely, the US tourist visa backlog was and is there.
The uncertainty, driven by the long visa delay, of reuniting with their parents and other family members continues to cause emotional distress to many Indian immigrants and non-immigrants in the US. Indian parents are missing out on important events in the US, such as childbirth, marriage anniversary celebration, housewarming, and graduation ceremony. However, Indian American Sunil Dhar, who lives in San Francisco, found a way for his son’s would-be in-laws and other family members from New Delhi to bypass the US visitor visa in 2023.
His younger son was about to get married in June in the United States, but the bride’s parents and other family members were facing the long B2 visa interview wait time in New Delhi. Reportedly, Sunil Dhar tried hard to ensure that his would-be daughter-in-law’s parents could attend the wedding in the US as wedding is a significant event in Indian culture and a Hindu wedding is incomplete without certain rituals that a bride’s parents perform. In 2022, some of Sunil Dhar’s extended family members from India could not attend his elder son’s wedding in San Francisco due to various visa-related issues.
To avoid the visa-related issue this time, Sunil Dhar made certain arrangements so that his guests from India could enter the US without a visa and bless the couple. He shifted the wedding venue from the Bay Area further up the West Coast. The wedding took place in Blaine near Seattle, Washington State. The Peace Arch Park on the US-Canada border, the northern boundary of Blaine City, was selected as the wedding venue. Interestingly, the Peace Arch Park is a visa neutral zone without immigration checkpoints.
The bride’s family from India had the Canadian visa. They could enter the park via British Columbia without having a US visa and facing any immigration check. Hence, the bride’s parents and other guests traveled to Canada from Delhi, instead of booking Delhi to San Francisco flight tickets. The northern half of the park is in Canada and the southern half stretches into the US. They entered the park from the northern half and attended the wedding in the southern half.
“Other than the above, there was another way to bypass the US visa interview delays across India in those days. Indian nationals seeking B1/B2 visas could apply at the US Mission/consulates in international destinations, such as Kuwait City, Japan, and Seoul where the US tourist visa wait time was relatively very shorter (7 to 10 days). However, starting September 2025, non-immigrant visa applicants, including B1/B2, can schedule visa interview appointments only in their country of citizenship or legal residence,” said Sourav Agarwal, Senior Editor of Travel Beats.
Travel Beats, a leading community and travel news portal for Indian Diaspora in the US, is a subsidiary of Indian Eagle LLC. IndianEagle.com, the most trusted travel-booking partner of Indians and Americans, is currently offering an additional $25 discount on flight tickets from USA to India and beyond. IEREPUBLICTB is the discount code valid through 31 January (CST hours).
