How to avoid student visa delay? VFS Global explains in 3 points

As international borders opening and foreign universities inviting students again, the pressure on visa processing increased manifold. Like, the British High Commission in India last month stated, “Student visas taking 3 weeks to process." This left aspirants worried as many of them are about to lose out on 'opportunity' and 'assignments' due to the delay.

Many students have spoken about it on social media. Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) last month called the ambassadors/deputy chiefs of missions of eight countries that includes the US, Canada, UK, Germany and Australia and asked them to 'streamline' and 'fast-track' the process.

Due to a high number of applications and few slots visa processing is taking longer than usual.

“Senior MEA officials dealing with Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Poland, UK & USA had constructive discussions with corresponding heads of missions/ senior diplomats of these countries about streamlining student visas to Indian nationals," the Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, tweeted. “They agreed to remain engaged on further easing & fast-tracking the process, since the flow of students has been mutually beneficial," he said.

Solution for this issue

Visa facilitation agency VFS said, many international universities opened their enrolments for students from India with the easing of travel restrictions last year and this led to high demand for visas.

What you should do to avoid student visa processing delay

• Considering the high demand for student visas during the peak period of June to September we have proactively urged students to apply early to avoid last minute rush.
• Students are also advised to liaise with their respective universities to get their paperwork sorted in a timely manner to be able to apply for their visas on schedule.
• Often embassies/consulates deploy extra measures to manage the volumes for student visas.