Visa day marked at US consulate celebrated

KOLKATA: At a time when a lot of apprehensions are being raised over the granting of certain categories of work visas, Thursday was celebrated at the US consulate offices across the country as Student Visa Day, with fast track clearances marking the day.
A total of 160 students who have secured admissions in US campuses appeared for their visa interviews on Thursday and many were granted their visas on the spot.
The two cornerstones of the relationship between the two countries are economic ties and education, said US consul general Craig Hall. Hence, all efforts were made to smoothen the visa granting process to students, he said.
The number of Indian students in the US campuses has grown from 100,000 to 1,66,000 over a period of two years, he revealed, making them the second largest student community after China.
“India and US have a very strong relationship. The US consulate in Kolkata is one of the oldest that US has anywhere in the world,” Hall said.
“We have a very high opinion of Indian students, who are very well prepared. Since they also come from a background of democracy, plurality and tolerance of other cultures, they find themselves at home in the US unlike many others who don’t come from similar belief systems,” Craig said.
Consulate officials spent the day answering students’ queries about campus life in the US etc.
“I am really feeling relaxed now. I had secured admission at the University of Pennsylvania for mathematical economics, but till the time I got my visa, I was a bit tense. I appeared for the interview in the morning and by afternoon I got my visa!” said an ecstatic Devishi Sarda, a student of Modern High School who scored 97.25 per cent in her ISC exam.
Bratin Sengupta was another student who got his visa immediately after his interview. He will be going for his Phd in chemical and biological engineering at RPI New York.