US Consulate General in Hyderabad Releases First Batch of Student Visa Appointments, More to Follow

US Consulate General in Hyderabad kickstarted the student visa season, by issuing the first tranche of appointments for late May interviews. (Image: Shutterstock/Representative)

The US Consulate General in Hyderabad began releasing student visa appointments and said that more appointments would be released in the coming weeks.

The US Consulate General of Hyderabad announced the release of the initial batch of visa appointments for Indian students on Tuesday. In a social media post, the consulate general said the first tranche of student visa appointments for interviews in late May have been released.

It further added that additional appointment tranches for June, July and August will be released in the coming weeks.

“It’s almost Student Visa Season! The first tranche of student visa appointments for interviews in late May has been released. In the coming weeks we’ll release additional appointment tranches for June, July, and August. Check out EducationUSA’s resources for prospective students to make sure you’re ready for success!,” the US Consulate General of Hyderabad said in a post on X.

It asked students to check out EducationUSA’s resources as well.

Previously, there were reports indicating a nearly 40 percent decline in global visa applications for the US among skilled workers due to measures implemented by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to combat fraud.

According to a report from USCIS, the number of lottery bids for H-1B visas dropped to 470,342, marking a 38 percent decrease from the 758,994 bids received last year. The lottery took place in the final week of March.

In its initial list, the USCIS announced the selection of 114,017 applicants, leading to 120,603 chosen registrations for the FY25 H-1B cap.

“This year, USCIS took measures to secure the H-1B registration process. Our initial data suggests that there were far fewer attempts than last year to gain an unfair advantage owing in large measure to the implementation of the beneficiary-centric selection process,” the agency said last week, according to a report by Moneycontrol.

The US agency stated it revamped the lottery system to ensure fairness, and said that it uncovered instances where few firms were collaborating to submit multiple bids for the same applicant.