Long wait for visas throws spanner in the works for many from Pune

PUNE: Difficulty or delay in getting a visa is causing anxious moments for many Puneites who have made plans to travel to the US, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and Australia.
Travellers and travel agents alike said a spike in travel to these countries has increased the processing times for visas — two months for the US (earliest available online appointment being in mid-July), 20-30 working days for Canada, 21 working days for Australia, and as long as three or four weeks for Britain.

Several travellers have opted to go to other cities — Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi — for a visa appointment, due to a paucity of convenient slots in Mumbai. “We could have had our visas processed in Pune, but the appointment date (April 8) was not suitable — we were told it could take a month to be processed,” a Puneite, who had planned to trip to the UK and the Netherlands, said. “We did not want to wait another month and then apply for a Schengen visa, so, we booked an earlier appointment in Mumbai,” he added.
“Far-off visa appointment dates (the US) and long processing times (Canada) are messing up travel plans to North America. The earliest people can plan to travel to the US is now August, as it takes a week or so for the visa to be processed after the appointment,” the director of a travel firm said.
“Since January 2019, IRCC India has maintained a processing time of 13 days for tourist visas. With April-August being considered the peak travel season in India and in Canada, the processing times might increase, depending on the volume of applications received on daily basis,” reasoned the Canadian high commission’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) department.
Normally, one would get a USA visa appointment within a week or 10 days. “But getting a US visa has now become a nine-week exercise,” a travel operator said.
“The wait time for a visa interview is a function of both demand and staffing,” Nick Novak, spokesperson for the US consulate in Mumbai, explained in an email to TOI. “At the moment we are seeing increased demand for US visas across India, while staffing in our consular sections is limited, resulting in higher-than-normal wait times for an interview,” Novak added.
“People prefer to first get their visa and then make travel arrangements. Our clients are now in a fix — if they wait till July, the hotel and flight fares will shoot up, but if they make bookings now, there is no guarantee they will get a visa,” the operator added.
This has caused several people to postpone or cancel their plans to go to the US, travel agents said.
The UK, meanwhile, is seeing a boost in tourist numbers, thanks to the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup, jointly being hosted by England and Wales. “The time of processing a UK visa, which is normally 10 days, has gone up 300%. We have clients who had applied for a UK visa in mid-April and were scheduled to travel in mid-May. They are now on tenterhooks because they haven’t got their passports back yet. And there is no tracking system to check the status,” another travel agent said.
The British high commission stated in an email that they were expecting up to 80,000 Indians to travel to the UK for the World Cup. “Despite rising demand, the UK is able to process the vast majority of cases within our service standards. However, we still encourage all applicants to apply as early as possible. That’s why we’ve been running a marketing campaign this year to encourage those visiting the UK for the World Cup to apply early or use Priority or Super Priority visa services,” the high commission stated.
The British high commission added that travel to the UK has been on the rise over the past few years. “In 2018, almost 5,80,000 Indians received a visa to work, study or visit the UK — almost 60,000 more than in 2017. We expect this number to be even greater in 2019,” the high commission added.
“Visa processing times are driven by a range of factors, including the volume of applications received, the completeness of the application, how promptly applicants respond to any requests from the Department of Home Affairs and the complexity of assessments in relation to health, character and national security requirements,” a spokesperson from the Australian government’s department of home affairs explained, and added, “Those who apply online and supply all supporting documents at the time of application can help streamline the process.”
VFS Global spokesperson said, "Owing to the ongoing peak travel season, like every year, VFS Global has been experiencing high volumes of visa applications across most regions around the globe, including India. Despite the increase in footfall at our Visa Application Centres, we continue to maintain our timelines of processing application documents as per the guidelines defined by our client governments."