Event, News by admin Dec 08, 2023
IMPORTANT NOTICE
- Canceled student visa appointments will be rescheduled to the week of December 11-15.
- Canceled petition based visa appointments will be rescheduled to the week of December 18-22.
- Canceled visitor visa (B1/B2) appointments will be rescheduled to January.
The applicants who were supposed to attend the biometric appointment at the Chennai Visa Application Center (VAC) for December 4-6 will also receive and email indicating the new date and time of the biometric appointment.
The Applicants who wished to submit their interview waiver applicaiton at Chennai Visa Application Center (VAC) for December 4-6 and were able to submit will also receive email indicating the new date and time for application submission. Interview waiver processing times throughout the Mission will be delayed by this disruption.
You do not need to contact the Call Center or Chennai Consulate, please keep checking our website and your email for updates.
We are working to resume full operations in Chennai as quickly as possible and our thoughts are with those whose lives and livelihoods are directly impacted by this storm.
Attention Students!
To prevent fraud and abuse of the appointment system, we are announcing the following policy change which will be implemented beginning November 27, 2023
All F, M, and J student visa applicants must use their own passport information when creating a profile and scheduling their visa appointment. Applicants who have created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number will not be accepted at the Visa Application Centers (VAC). Their appointments will be cancelled and the visa fee will be lost. Any applicant who has created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number should either create a new profile containing the correct passport information OR access any existing profile which contains the correct passport information in order to book an appointment. Note that this will require payment of a new visa fee receipt if the old receipt has been attached to a profile with incorrect passport information.
An applicant who has recently renewed their passport, or obtained a new passport after the old passport was lost or stolen, may bring a photocopy or other evidence of the old passport number and they will be allowed to proceed with their appointment.
Important notice regarding DS-160 Online Noimmigrant Visa Application/Confirmation page
When booking your visa appointment, you must ensure that you, or your representative, submit a properly completed DS-160 form (online visa application).
A properly completed DS-160 form contains the complete and correct information (including name, gender, visa class, date of birth, passport number, et ceterea.) for the applicant who will appear for the interview.
Please note:
If your appointment was booked prior to November 15, 2023 you may proceed with your appointment to the VAC or document drop-off location with your corrected DS-160 confirmation page.
If your appointment was booked on or after November 15, 2023, you must bring the original Ds-160 confirmation page you have used to schedule your appointment and the corrected DS-160 confirmation page to the VAC or document drop-off location ont he day of your appointment. If you are unable to the bring your original Ds-160 confirmation page and your corrected DS-160 confirmation page, you must cancel and reschedule your appointment by entering your corrected DS-160 applicaiton number.
For more information, please visit frequently asked questions (FAQs) under DS-160.
All receipts for payment of Macine Readable Visa (MRV) fees issued before October 1, 2022 expired September 30, 2023
All receipts for payment of Machine Readable Visa (MRV) fees issued before October 1, 2022, expired September 30, 2023. There will be no extensions of fee validity. Applicants must have scheduled an appointment or submitted an interview waiver application before September 30, 2023 to avoid paying a new fee. If you paid the MRV fee on or after October 1, 2022, you must have scheduled the appointment within one year of your MRV payment date. Please note that the interiview itself does not need to take place withing one year, but an interview appointment needs to be made in the system, even if it is scheduled months into the future. Furthermore, applicants using MRV fees paid before October 1, 2022 to book an appointment are cautioned not to attempt to change their appointment dates on or after October 1, 2023. Doing so will result in forfeiture of both the original appointment slot and the MRV fee receipt. The applicant will be required to pay a new fee and submit a new applicaiton package.
Important Announcement: Change in Interview Waiver (Dropbox) cases processing location, effective October 1, 2023.
The US Embassy and Consulates in India are centralizing the processing of most nonimmigrant visa interview waiver (drop box) cases in Chennai to maximize productivity and increase efficiencies. This change will apply to all visa categories except B1/B2 short term visitor visas, which will continue to be processed at every consular section. Already scheduled interview waiver appointments will be unchanged, but new C1/D, F, H, J, L and M interview waiver appointments, after October 1, will be available only in Chennai. Applicants will sitll be able to drop off an pick up their interview waiver documetns at any of the five Visa Application Centers or six Document Drop Off Centers located throughout india and should not experience any delays as a result of this change. This change is once of the many measures we are taking to streamline visa processing and increase our capacity to meet Indian demand for travel to the United States.
New process for US Visa Services effective July 29, 2023
We have moved to a new login portal from July 29, 2023. On the home page of this website, please select "Login" from the top right corner, to sign up on the new portal using your existing email ID and recreate your profile/account.
Applicants who have already created a profile and paid the visa fee but have not scheduled an appointment should sign up and recreate their profiel/account in the new portal and proceed with appointment scheduling. You do not need to pay a new visa fee if you have a valid paymetn receipt to schedule your appointment. If you created your profile and have paid your fee before July 15, 2023 but have not associated your payment to your profile, please ensure you log in to your profile and claim your receipt by entering the payment receipt number into the new system.
The premium document delivery and premium document submission charges have been revised to INr 850 per application effective July 29, 2023. This is applicable even if you opte for the premium service prior to July 29, 2023.
Update on Change to US Travel Policy Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination for nonimmigrant travel
The Administration will end the COVID 19 vaccine requirements for international air travelers at th end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID 19 public health emergency ends. This means starting May 12, noncitizen nonimmigrant air passengers will no longer need to show proof of being fully vaccinated with an accepted COVID 19 vaccine to board a flight to the United States. CDC's Amended Order Implementing Presidential Proclamation on Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID 19 Pandemic will no longer be in effect when the Presidential Proclamation Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID 19 Pandemic is revoked.
MRV Fee Valiidty Update Effective October 1st 2022
All nonimmigrant visa application fees (also known as the MRV fee) payments made on or after October 1, 2022, are valid for 365 days from the date a receipt is issued for payment of the MRV fees. Applicants must schedule an in person or interview waiver appointment during this 365 day period. Please note applicants must only schedule their in person or interview waiver appointment within the 365 day period. There is no requirement the interview or VAC appointment must occur during the 365 day period. All receipts for payment of MRV fees issued before October 1, 2002 were extended until September 30, 2023 and remain valid until this date.
Important Announcement on Waivers of the Interview Requirement for Certain Nonimmigrant Visas
Requesting an Expedited Appointment
Applicants can request an expedited appointment through our online appointment system. You must already have a confirmed interview appointment date in order to request an expedited appointment. If your emergency appointment request is approved, you will be notified with instructions via email. You should not cancel your existing appointment unless you receive a confirmation that your request for an emergency appointment has been approved. If you have not yet received an approval or denial, your request is still under consideration.
Immigrant Visa
The United States Embassy and Consulates in India have resumed scheduling routing appointments of all visa categories. All applicants who had appointments cancelled due to Embassy or Consulate closures during the COVID 19 pandemic have been sent instructions for how to reschedule. We are also accepting 221(g) submissions in all visa categories.
Initial immigrant visa interview appointments are scheduled by the National Visa Center with limited exceptions. Follow up or rescheduled appointments must be made through the new portal by selecting the "Login" option available on the homepage of this website. Applicants should follow the instructions provided for registering for appointments and monitor their email address for confirmation and further information.
For visa inquiries, the best and fastest way to communicate is to email support-india@usvisascheduling.com or dial the call center ((91-22) 62011000) during business hours to speak to a representative. Please note that multiple separate attempts to contact the Embassy or Consulate will slow communication. Additional information on immigrant visas and the immigrant visa application process are available at travel.state.gov.
Interview Waiver Applications
Consular sections across India are now accepting interview waiver applications for renewal of nonimmigrant visa categories upto 48 months after expiration of your visa at Visa Applications Centers across India. This means applicants whose visa expired within the 48 months prior to the date of application are eligible for an interview waiver for a visa application in the same classification. We strongly recommend that those who are eligible to utilize the interview waiver program do so. Please use this website to determine whether you are eligible for interview waiver processing and schedule an appointment for document drop-off. A list of drop-off locations is availabel on this website.
Service availability
As of August 17, the United States Embassy and Consulates in India are resuming certain immigrant and nonimmigrant visa services, including CR1/2 and IR1/2 (spouse and children of US Citizens) and F,M and certain J categories (alien physician, government visitor, international visitor, professo, research scholar, short-term research scholar, specialist, secondary school student, and college/university student). While the Emabssy and Consulates in India aim to process cases as soon as practicable, there is likely to be increased wait times for completing such service due to substantial backlogs. The MRV fee is valid and may be used to schedule an interview appointment in the country where it was purchased within one year of the date of payment. If you have an urgent matter and need to travel immediatley, please follow the guidance provided here to request an emergency appointment.
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