The US visitor visa interview dates are 200 to 280 days away from today, December 27 – which was double of the present delay in early 2023. It means those who wanted to travel to USA in mid-2023 or this holiday season would have to wait until 2024 move past a month or two. Back in April, B1/B2 visa interview appointments at the US Consulate in Kolkata had the longest wait time (400 days), whereas 320 days was the shortest wait time for in-person visitor visa interviews in Chennai. B1/B2 visa seekers are required to wait 360 days for interview appointments at the US Mission in New Delhi, then. 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 Delhi to bypass the need of a US visitor visa.
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 is an alternate way to bypass the US visitor visa interview delay in India. Indian nationals seeking B1/B2 visas can apply at the US Mission/consulates in international destinations, such as Kuwait City, Japan, and Seoul where the US tourist visa wait time is not even a week. But this alternative is not feasible for everyone, especially senior citizens traveling alone. Indian nationals require a valid visa to enter Kuwait, Japan, and South Korea. Not everyone can afford the cost of obtaining a B1/B2 visa outside of India.
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