Mission India’s Second Annual Student Visa Day celebrates higher education ties between India and the United States

Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. Michael Pelletier and Consuls General throughout India congratulated the day’s visa recipients who are becoming members of the U.S. higher education community. 

Currently, 132,000 Indian students are enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education, making them the second largest group of foreign students in the United States after China.  U.S. student visa applications are up 29 percent across India over the previous year.

The U.S. Mission to India welcomed Student Visa Day applicants in an informative and festive atmosphere with visa sections decorated with university material and Consular officers in alma mater apparel.  Some consulates had guest alumni speakers, while others had photo booths or a special lunch for the applicants. 

Representatives from the Consular and Public Affairs sections and our EducationUSA partners – the official source of accurate, current, and comprehensive information on higher education in the United States (www.educationusa.state.gov) – were on hand to provide insights and answer questions about student life in the United States.   

This year, the U.S. Mission also launched a survey of student visa recipients to learn more about awareness and use of the seven EducationUSA centers in India.