A group of 24 Senate Democrats are calling on the U.S. Department of State to “do everything it can” to expedite the student visa process, so that international students may begin their studies in the United States before the new academic year begins.
In a letter (pdf) to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the senators suggested that the department should increase staffing and work hours, maximize use of virtual interviews, and provide more flexibility in order to speed up clearing the backlog of student visa requests.