In a bid to boost the tourism sector in India, the Indian Government has announced that it will issue free one-month tourist visas. Free one-month tourist visas will be issued to the first 5 lakh applicants or until March 31, 2022; whichever is earlier. This free benefit will be extended only once per tourist. The…

Until March 31, 2021, U.S. nonimmigrant visa applicants whose nonimmigrant visa of the same category expired within 24 months were eligible for an interview waiver.In March 2021, Secretary Blinken, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, temporarily expanded the ability of consular officers to waive the in-person interview requirement for individuals applying for a…

The pandemic has impacted people from all walks of life. Fresh graduates across the globe are no exception. Many aspiring student visa applicants have not been able to secure a job after graduation on account of COVID-19. Consequently, they are concerned about the gap between their bachelor’s degree and the application of student visa to pursue…

The U.S. Embassy in India in a notification today has reiterated that student visas remain a top priority for the U.S. Mission to India. This updates also indicates that the posts in India are making every attempt to facilitate students to travel to the United States in time for their fall semester. On June 14, 2021…

In a August 2020 press release by the U.S. Department of State indicates that as consular posts worldwide resume operations depending on local conditions, priority would be given to K visas. It is important to note that K-1 petitions are approved with validity of four months. If the applicant was unable to apply for the K-1…

The U.S. Consulate General, Chennai in a tweet dated June 6, 2021 has updated that their office is cancelling all routine non-immigrant visa interview appointments, interview waiver appointments and routine American Citizen service appointments until June 11, 2021.  The post will continue to offer emergency appointments as permitted by local conditions. The post will try…

Readers may be aware the U.S. consulate in Mumbai processes all immigrant visa applications in India. In a recent update, the U.S. consulate, Mumbai has notified that they will resume processing of all Immigrant visa applications from today, June 7, 2021.This includes the following: Rescheduling of cancelled immigrant visa appointmentsSB-1 (Returning resident application)Boarding foilRe-issuance of…

In a recent update, the United States Department of State has notified that U.S. citizens (USC) who are currently abroad and seeking to return directly to the United States may do so using an expired passport if certain conditions are met.To take advantage of this temporary relief, the U.S. citizen with the expired passport must fly…

A recent tweet by the U.S. consulate in Chennai indicates that all routine services, regular non-immigrant visa appointments, interview waiver appointments and routine American Citizen Services appointments are cancelled through June 4, 2021.  The tweet also updates that the post will make every attempt to honor scheduled emergency appointments. The Chennai VAC will be open…

Given the pandemic, interviews will be very limited at the consular posts in India when they resume services. If one requires an appointment for the interview in a local language and no local language appointments are available, one should select the option for an appointment in the English language and later on, request a translator…