On May 11, 2022, the Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs, Mr. Don Heflin hosted a Facebook Live session to share important updates on how consular posts across India will prioritize interview appointments for nonimmigrant visa applicants in the coming months. During this live chat, Mr. Heflin stated that F1 visa applicants who had prior student visa refusals would be unable to schedule a visa appointment at the start of the summer season. However, from August 15, 2022, to September 1, 2022, around 15,000 appointment slots would become available for visa applicants who had received prior F1 visa refusals.

According to Mr. Heflin, the impetus behind this decision was to focus on fresh applicants who had never applied for a student visa before, such as students who had just completed high school and wanted to pursue undergraduate studies or those who have just graduated with a bachelor’s degree and wish to pursue their master’s degree education in the U.S.

In pursuit of this, an additional question was added to the appointment scheduling system on the CGI Federal website seeking to determine whether the applicant had previously been denied a student visa. If the applicant selects the option affirming a previous F1 refusal, the system will not permit appointment scheduling. However, this question has now been removed and applicants who have prior student visa refusals are able to schedule a visa appointment. This modification appears to corelate with the dates mentioned by Mr. Heflin in the live chat.

This is a welcome change and a relief for student applicants with prior visa refusals. We will continue to share helpful information to help those seeking to study, live or work in the U.S.