New Delhi: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has introduced an ‘America First’ visa scheduling tool as a broader push to upgrade how American consulates operate. While on his high-profile four-day diplomatic tour to India, Rubio spoke about the visa tool that gives priority to business professionals and people whose travel directly strengthens economic and strategic links with the United States.

Rubio pointed to the foundation of the US-India relationship and how it has been growing in ways that don’t always make headlines. He said that the US and India have expanded commercial ties now with more than 20 billion in investments. “20 billion in investments from Indian companies in the United States,” he said and also highlighted a security partnership through military exercises in the Indo-Pacific.

A slow or unpredictable consular process can get in the way of the very exchanges, such as business visits, investment trips, and partnership meetings, that are building those ties. To remove the friction, a smarter scheduling system is needed. “An orderly and a secure consular system is vital to solidifying this important relationship,” Rubio said. The tool is built around a single prioritisation principle: applicants who strengthen ties with the United States get earlier access to scheduling. In practice, that means business professionals, the people flying into close deals, sign agreements, expand operations, or represent Indian companies investing in American markets. However, Rubio also mentioned that the new facility isn’t only about visa applicants.

He addressed the American men and women working at the mission directly, the consular officers, the support staff and everyone on what he called “the front lines” of advancing US national interests every day. “This facility saved Americans money because it’s going to make us more efficient.