US Visa application expected to break all records in 2024, costs Rs. 88,000 per visa

US Visa applications are expected to break all records this year as the offices in Islamabad and Karachi are processing more than 10,000 applications a month.

Due to the high demand, the waiting time for the appointment has also been reduced by almost half compared to last year.

Dawn’s Kalbe Ali reported that a senior US embassy official stated that the number of visas issued from offices in Islamabad and Karachi reached the highest ever in 2023.

He said the number will exceed in the ongoing US fiscal year that will end in October 2024.

The visa fee for an E-visa is 315 dollars which is almost 88 thousand Pakistani rupees.

Waiting time reduced

The official shared that compared to last year when the appointment waiting time peaked to 440 days, it has now been reduced by the embassy to 237 days.

Additionally, he told Dawn that visas are issued within five days after the interview if the concerned officer approves. However, the delay in the visa applications processing time is only because each application is evaluated on individual basis.

A total of 107,183 non-immigration visas were issued from Pakistan during the fiscal year ending in October 2023, compared to 72,082 visas issued in the previous fiscal year of 2022, according to the figures available on US embassy website.

The official also told Dawn that the US visa section gives priority to students.

However, the data of visa application rejection rate and the total number of applications received have not been made public.