If you’re an international student looking to apply for a US student visa, it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief. Processing times are falling fast, swiftly trending back towards pre-pandemic time frames.
COVID-19 restrictions made it nearly impossible for prospective students to start their educational journeys, as US embassies around the world were either closed or delayed in scheduling appointments for the majority of 2020 and 2021. With no virtual alternatives to in-person embassy meetings, students’ frustrations understandably mounted.
With the help of data compiled by Jason Hall of Brigham Young University, we’re examining the progression of US student visa processing times globally. It’s clear that extended processing delays flipped from being the exception, to the rule.
Key Insights at a Glance
- US consular officers are now temporarily authorized to waive in-person interviews for student visas.
- From March 2021 to February 2022, over 60% of US embassies were either closed or taking emergency appointments only.
- Interview wait times exceeded 300 days for several top US source markets, including Nigeria and France.
- 92% of US embassies are open as of February 7, 2021.
Join us as we translate this data into interactive maps and charts that unpack the evolution of embassy wait times, searching for the big learning moments for schools, students, and recruitment partners around the world.1
Navigating Processing Times
During the global pandemic, US embassies around the world cut staff and lowered capacities, which hampered a process that relies almost entirely on in-person interaction.
The wait to begin the first step in the US student visa application process suddenly became the longest it has ever been, with many countries only taking interview appointments in the case of an emergency, or shutting down embassies altogether. With embassies providing no immediate plans to shift their practices to a virtual or online interview setting, this caused an instant bottleneck in this process.
In order to apply for a US student visa, applicants must attend an in-person interview at their local US embassy or consulate. A full rundown of the process is provided on the US Department of State website.
Policy Updates Reducing Wait Times
Despite the extensive wait times over the past nine months, things are trending in a positive direction for applicants hoping to study abroad in the US. The pie chart below breaks down the latest student visa wait times as of February 7, 2022:
43% of embassies can now offer a visa interview within two weeks, up from 16% in March 2021. This change is not only driven by regional COVID-19 restrictions being lifted, but also recent policy changes.
In December 2021, the Biden administration announced that in-person interviews for student visas would be waived through December 2022, allowing students to submit their applications to embassies remotely. This was exciting news for students everywhere who were forced to put their applications on hold during the height of the pandemic.
In the map below, pay attention to the abrupt shift in the colour of countries from red and dark blue to lighter shades of blue between November 2021 and February 2022:
This policy change drove a swift reduction in wait times, opening the door for thousands of students to pursue an education at a US institution.
On the heels of this news, the US also recently announced that student visa fees are going up in September 2022. While a hike in fees may not be what applicants want, the motivation behind this move is to improve the student experience. Increased fees need to translate into better service, especially shorter wait times, which are particularly important for students.
As US health authorities begin to ease COVID-19 restrictions alongside these recent policy updates, expect to see a big reduction in visa wait times in the coming months and an increase in the number of international students studying in the US in 2022/23.
Evolution of Wait Times for Top US Source Markets
Increased wait times across the board are a cause for concern with US institutions, but that concern is largely driven by the status of their top source markets. Let’s check in on them.
The following graph tracks the wait times for the top six US source markets in 2020/21:
After a month of embassy closures and a brief spike in wait times, China fared the best out of the top six markets, never seeing average wait times exceed six days after July 2021.
Indian applicants experienced the most inconvenience, as US embassies in India were either closed or only taking emergency appointments for 36 consecutive weeks. Embassies across India reopened the week of January 9, 2022, and have seen a substantial drop in wait times since. In 2022, we expect the majority of Indian applicants to take advantage of in-person interviews being waived, which should expedite the return of Indian students to US campuses.
At 85 days, Canada experienced the longest average wait time of this group. This can be attributed to the strict public health measures implemented by the Canadian government during the pandemic. As restrictions are eased, wait times in Canada should continue to drop.
Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Vietnam all experienced very similar wait time growth trajectories during the pandemic. Wait times spiked in July 2021, followed by a steady decline.
Moving forward, wait times for the US’s top source markets should be no cause for concern, as many applicants will be eligible to bypass the interview process altogether and submit their applications.
US institutions, however, should prepare themselves for an especially big influx of students from all of these markets, with the exception of China. The backlog of applicants that have piled up over the past year will likely lead to massive demand from students who wanted to begin their studies several months earlier.
Recently, we unpacked the surging demand from international students in 2022 and projected where trends are headed.
A Timeline of Visa Interview Wait Times
The global pandemic sent US embassies on a two-year roller coaster. We collected data on the final nine months of that roller coaster to paint a picture of what the wait time fluctuations looked like around the world.
The following interactive map tracks the average wait time for an interview at a US embassy, by country, on a weekly basis dating back to March 2021. Drag the time slider and hover over each country to see how its visa interview wait time evolved. Red indicates a temporary closure or appointments being taken in case of emergency only.
In the early months of 2021, the US student visa application process came to a grinding halt. On March 28, 2021, the embassies in 93 of the 163 countries that processed US student visa applications were either temporarily closed or taking emergency appointments only. This meant that students in 57% of countries with US embassies were unable to apply for a US student visa.
Europe
If you drag the time slider to the right, you’ll notice European countries were some of the first to see embassy closures lifted, with 30 of 44 countries in Europe opening embassies by July 18, 2021.
But while many European countries’ successful mitigation of COVID-19 led to reduced wait times for visa interviews, applicants in other continents were not so fortunate.
Africa
Africa’s inability to keep up with the rapid spread of COVID-19 meant that embassies in over 90% of African countries experienced long-term closures or extended delays. One of the most severe examples of these delays was Nigeria, the biggest contributor of African international students to the US over the past five years.
During the global pandemic, US embassies in Nigeria were severely affected, experiencing some of the longest delays in the world.
As of February 7, 2022, when less than 8% of US embassies around the world were closed and 60% of embassies offered a wait time under 30 days, Nigeria continued to experience major delays, with a wait time of 345 days.
Countries with the shortest average wait times among top 25 US source markets included China (4 days), Brazil (6 days), Japan (8 days), Taiwan (11 days), and Kuwait (11 days).
Looking Forward
COVID-19 has altered the way business is conducted, how students are educated, and now, finally, how governments interact with citizens.
Extended interview wait times and embassy closures were a big hurdle for many prospective students, a hurdle that was insurmountable in certain countries. The waiving of in-person interviews coupled with pending fee increases should help students navigate a post-COVID world.
We’re excited to see international students return in bunches to US institutions in 2022 and beyond, but in order for that transition to run smoothly, schools and recruitment partners must pay attention to how these embassy delays will impact them.
Here are some recommendations for schools and recruitment partners looking to respond to this news in a proactive manner:
- Schools looking to bolster recruitment efforts should target students in countries with the highest wait times. We expect wait times in these countries to drop and applications to increase substantially— especially from undergraduate applicants in Nigeria and prospective graduate students in Canada.
- Schools specializing in STEM programs, the most popular stream among Indian students, should manage expectations with Indian students and be clear about their accommodation limitations in order to provide all applicants with a positive experience as volume increases.
- Recruitment partners should inform their students that US embassy visa interviews have been waived and warn them of pending fee increases.
Published: February 22, 2022
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FOOTNOTES:
1. All data courtesy of the US Department of State, except where noted.
2. Wait times per country are calculated as the average of the average interview wait time across all embassies for that country. They are not a definitive representation of the average wait time for each applicant in that country. For example, on January 10, 2022, embassy wait times in the UK were 4 days in London and 28 days in Belfast. The wait time for the country is thus expressed as 16 days, despite the fact that London processes considerably more students than Belfast.
