US visa appointment slots hiked to 30,000 (India)

[OhioChick]

October 19, 2006 15:11 IST

Taking serious note of the vast backlog for US visa appointments, the US Consulate in Chennai has added 30,000 visa appointments till the end of this year, Peter Kaestner, Minister Counsellor of US Consular Affairs, New Delhi, said on Thursday.

He said the number of visa appointment slots was being increased in a bid to streamline the US visa application process and to reduce the long-waiting time for applicants.

"The US Consulate General is not satisfied with the long-waiting time for visa appointments, as much as the applicants. The headquarters at Washington has sanctioned more resources in the form of money and extra personnel to quicken the process of visa issuance," Kaestner informed the media.

In order to enable better service, the US consulate was strongly urging the applicants, who had obtained appointment slots in 2007, to advance their appointments to this year.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/oct/19visa.htm

[acmejack]

1. All those IT jobs Americans won't do!

For $5.75. an hour (they always leave that part out for some reason).

[MindPilot]

8. And companies get exactly what they pay for...

low wages = bad workmanship. Bottom line is these "guest workers" can't achieve the level of quality that is intrinsic to an American, Asian or European employee. I'm one of the lucky ones to still have a job in IT and I have to deal with it every day.

If you ever look around and ask yourself, "why are things so screwed up?", thank your government for issuing those H1B visas.

[brokensymmetry]

2. US undergraduate enrollments in computer

science are down 50% from a few years ago in a
nationwide trend. The high school graduates
realize they won't be permitted to make a living
in IT/CS, so they study something else.

Let's see now...we let other people sweat...and
think...and innovate. What do we do? Um, trade
little pieces of paper?

This will not end well.

[OhioChick]

3. Many of our graduates

are going to India once they graduate.

"Indian economic boom attracts US graduates"

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2006/10/18/2003332292

[brokensymmetry]

4. Ouch. Still, I can't blame them.

If they can't find opportunity here, and can find
it there - what choice do they really have?

George has certainly done a heckuva job with
the U.S. economy, hasn't he? :sarcasm:

[Tempest]

6. Brain drain

No wonder the U.S. is falling farther and farther behind the rest of the world intellectually.

[kineneb]

7. my advice to teens

(I volunteer with a teen organization.)

"Go ahead and study what you want, but be prepared to work in a totally unrelated field. Also, learn a practical skill that cannot be offshored, like plumbing, carpentry, or auto repair, just in case."

These days a college degree does not guarantee a decent paying job after leaving school. Even for us, the older generations (especially the 40+ crowd).

[area51]

5. Gee, why not?

I mean, it's not as if we have ANY unemployed people in the U.S. who would love to have a job so that they can support themselves & their family. </sarcasm> :grr: :nuke: :grr: :nuke: :grr: