Picture Credit: X
Arjun Erigaisi, the Indian Chess No. 1, took to his official X account recently, to update about his status for the upcoming FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2024, beginning on December 26 in New York City. Ahead of the highly anticipated tournament, the 21-year-old revealed that his passport, which was submitted to the US Embassy in India for visa stamping, hasn’t been returned by them, putting his plans to travel to the USA in jeopardy.
The Indian GM went on to make a request to the US Embassy in India to expedite the process of stamping his visa before returning his passport to him at the earliest. Notably, if the request isn’t met by the US Embassy in time, then one of the best chess players on the planet won't be able to board a flight to the USA, to take part in the World Rapid & Blitz Championships later this month in New York City.
I request you to please expedite the process and return my passport: Arjun Erigaisi to US Embassy in India
In his post on the official X account, Arjun Erigaisi sounded quite concerned about whether he will be able to play in one of the biggest chess tournaments going around. He wrote, “@USAndIndia Last week I submitted my passport to you for visa stamping and it still has not been returned. I request you to please expedite the process and return my passport as soon as possible as I need it for my travel to New York for World Rapid & Blitz Championship”.
Arjun Erigaisi also asked for help from anyone through Direct Messaging (DM) on his social media post, while tagging the likes of MEA India, India Sports, AICF Chess, Dr S Jaishankar, and Mansukh Mandaviya for their intervention into the matter. Over the last couple of days, there has been no latest update provided to the media on the visa issue of Arjun Erigaisi from either the player himself or the US Embassy in India.
