US Embassy in India to Implement New Visa system

US Embassy in India to Implement New Visa system, Effective July 15, 2023, U.S visa services are moving to a new system. This enables them to efficiently move the appointment and payment information to the new system, please take the following steps at your earliest convenience:

• Ensure that all the data entered in your profile is complete and correct. If you need to correct any of the information, please do so as soon as possible.
• If you plan to pay a visa application fee in the near future, please do so before July 10, 2023, as payment services will be unavailable from July 11 to July 14 to enable the system change. Services will resume on July 15, 2023.
• If you have paid your visa fee but not associated it to your profile, please ensure you log in to your profile and associate your payment by entering the payment receipt number into your profile.
• If you are a travel coordinator, group coordinator, or family, and you added dependent visa applicants to primary applicant profiles, please ensure that each dependent/applicant has a unique email address. This may mean changing the email address you currently have listed for them. Please contact our call center if you need help updating this information.

Please monitor official website https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en regularly as they will continue to add information about the upcoming changes.

Non Immigrant Visa Fee Increases:

Effective June 17, 2023, the application fee for visitor and certain other non-immigrant visa categories increased from $160 to $185. Similarly, the application fee for certain petition-based non-immigrant visas (NIV) for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) will increase from $190 to $205.

Visa fee validity:

All non-immigrant visa application fee (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 fee.  Applicants must schedule an in-person or interview waiver appointment during this 365-day period. Applicants must only schedule their in-person or interview waiver appointment within the 365-day period.  There is no requirement the interview or visa application centers (VAC) appointment must occur during the 365-day period. All receipts for payment of MRV fees issued before October 1, 2022, have been extended until September 30, 2023, and remain valid until this date.

Submission of Interview Waiver application:

Effective April 4, 2022, applicants can submit their interview waiver application, as per their scheduled appointment date and time, free of cost at any of the Visa Application Centers (VAC) where the Embassy or Consulate is located. If applicants wish to submit at any other location, a nominal fee of Rs 650/- per passport will be charged in cash at the time of submission.

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.

Interview Waiver Applications:

Consular sections across India are now accepting interview waiver applications for renewal of nonimmigrant visa categories up to 48 months after expiration of your visa at Visa Application 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. They 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 available on https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en/ website.

Vaccination Certificate no longer required for Travel:

Noncitizen non-immigrant 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.

Document pickup / submission services:

Effective August 17, 2021 the U.S. Embassy/ Consulates in India will offer free document pickup/submission services at the OFC where the Embassy/Consulate is located. Applicants collecting/submitting documents from any other locations will need to pay a nominal fee of Rs 650/- per document at the time of pickup/ submission.

Yespal Veeragoni (Yash)
Overseas Education & Immigration Expert
Founder | CEO
Fly High Consultants Pvt Ltd.