The U.S. Department of State has announced significant changes to the non-immigrant visa appointment rescheduling process, effective from January 1, 2025. These updates aim to streamline the visa application system, minimize delays, and ensure equitable access to visa interview appointments for all applicants and to avoid delays or additional costs. This notification can be found here.

Key Updates on Visa Rescheduling Policy

Initial Appointment Schedule: Applicants can schedule their first visa interview appointment at a location of their choice, based on availability and convenience.

One-time Rescheduling Permitted: If an applicant needs to reschedule their visa appointment for any reason, they will be allowed to do so one time without incurring any additional charges. It is important to note that earlier, applicants were permitted to reschedule an appointment up to four times.

Rescheduling More than Once: If an applicant misses their scheduled appointment or needs to reschedule more than once, they are required to pay the visa fee again.

Summary and Conclusion

Given that non-immigrant visa applicants are permitted to reschedule the interview only once, it is important for them to choose a convenient date and location preferably the first time. Given the long wait times for visa categories like B1/B2, this new introduction is a significant setback for applicants. We trust and hope that the new visa rescheduling policy will reduce wait times in the coming months.