One of the first paper-pushing tasks for any new Foreign Service Officer of the United States is the dreaded visa circuit. This entails interviewing people who are applying to come to the United States for a variety of reasons. This also includes a lot of personality reading, cross questioning, and investigating at the interview. For example, is this person applying for a tourist visa nervous because they don't interview well, or is it because he/she plans on settling down in the U.S.? I have heard stories of new Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) assigned to the Embassy in Mexico City, which makes or breaks an FSO. People have reportedly quit after their first tour just issuing visas because the workload is so high.
The outsourcing phenomenon that began in IT, where jobs were sent from the U.S. to India, has now even effected the Indian Embassy. In an interesting twist, visas for people visiting or working in India are now handled by an outsourcing agency called Travisa India.
I think this is a great idea. I filled in my application for a tourist visa to India on Friday online in a pdf file, printed it out and hand delivered it today to Travisa India. After turning it in, I was given a receipt and told to check the status online. I was in and out in 10 minutes. I also had to surrender my old Indian passport and fill out paperwork renouncing my Indian citizenship, but the process was quick and painless.
The status reads "Documents sent to Embassy" as of 11:25 a.m. So I guess the Embassy still issues the visas but the initial collection of paperwork is done by Travisa. I'll keep you posted on the outcome when I go to pick the visa up this evening.
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