CBP commenced operation of its preclearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport, United Arab Emirates, on January 26, 2014. CBP now has 16 preclearance facilities in 6 countries. Ordinarily, passengers undergo immigration, customs, and agriculture inspections upon arrival at a U.S. airport. However, passengers travelling through one of these 16 preclearance facilities including the new…

With H1B filing season around the corner, U.S. consular posts in India advise the public to beware of fraudulent job offers. We, at Murthy Immigration Services Pvt. Ltd., receive numerous calls from persons who have received emails from companies that claim to be H1B sponsors, but in fact are not. The targets of this scam…

We had reported on December 2, 2013 on the requirement for immigrant visa applicants to complete the new online immigrant visa application form DS-260 which replaces the paper based form DS-230 (Part I and II). Effective December 23, 2013, all immigrant visa applicants are required to schedule an appointment for biometrics through www.ustraveldocs.com/in at one…

Non-Immigrant Visa Applicants are Permitted more Number of Cancellations of Visa Interview(s) Subscribers to MurthyIndiaBulletin and regular visitors to MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that a new visa interview system was introduced in September 2012. Under this system, we understand that one is permitted to cancel the visa interview up to six times. This information was shared…

We had reported on December 2, 2013 on the requirement for immigrant visa applicants to complete the new online immigrant visa application form DS-260 which replaces the paper based form DS-230 (Part I and II). Another recent update indicates that effective December 23, 2013, all immigrant visa applicants need to schedule a biometric appointment through…

Consular Facebook Chat was introduced by the U.S. Embassy in India on November 21, 2013 and the consular officers respond to visa-related questions on every Friday (https://www.facebook.com/India.usembassy). Applicants / prospective applicant(s) can post his/her question(s) as comments below the timeline post “Welcome to Visa Fridays!”. The visa-related questions are chosen between 11.00 AM and 1.00…

Regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom and MurthyIndiaBulletin are aware that the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India introduced optional courier delivery service in May 2013 for non-immigrant visa applicants. This facility was later extended to immigrant visa applicants. A recent update on http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/ indicates that this service will be terminated with effect from November 30, 2013.…

A recent update on the Consular website indicates that effective September 1, 2013, all immigrant visa applicants from India are required to complete the new immigrant visa application form DS-260. This new electronic version of the immigrant visa application form replaces the paper based form DS-230 (Part I and II). The Principal Applicant, Attorney, Petitioner…

With effect from Friday, November 12, 2013, the U.S. consular exchange rate is adjusted to INR 65 to one US$. More recently, the consular exchange rate was revised to INR 68 to one US$ on September 26, 2013. This revision in the exchange rate will affect the INR equivalent for all application fees paid on…

Regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that the U.S. Citizenship Services Section of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, periodically provides outreach services at Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), to help U.S. citizens. The next outreach program at Bengaluru is scheduled for December 17 through 20, 2013. More information on the services offered and procedure to schedule an…