In general, U.S. immigrant visa applicants will be issued a sealed packet with civil documents and information, which she / he should present to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the time of first entry into the United States for further processing. We recently reported that the National Visa Center (NVC) started accepting civil documents electronically…

U.S. visa applicants who are familiar with the dropbox application process may be aware that, prior to September 1, 2019, eligible applicants could just complete the visa application form, create / update profile on www.ustraveldocs.com/in, pay the visa application fee, generate the dropbox letter and submit applicable documents at one of the eleven CGI document drop-off locations from Monday to…

The consular exchange rate is revised to INR 72 to a US$ with effect from July 29, 2019. This revision will affect all immigrant and non-immigrant visa related fees payable at any Consular post in India. Applicants who paid the visa application fee on or before July 28, 2019 can use the receipt to schedule…

All U.S. Immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants need to complete the respective visa application form by visiting Consular Electronic Application Center’s website. Earlier today, we reported that the CEAC site was down. The CEAC website is back up and working now. U.S. visa applicants can now create/edit/submit an application.

All U.S. Immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants need to complete the respective visa application form by visiting Consular Electronic Application Center’s website. We at Murthy Immigration Services noted that this website was inaccessible for the most part of June 22, 2019. As of this writing, there is no official update on this subject. Applicants need…

On account of the heavy flooding in Mumbai, the U.S. consulate in Mumbai has rescheduled appointments originally scheduled for July 3 to July 12, 2019. If the applicant was unable to attend the biometrics on July 2, s/he can provide the biometrics on any day between July 3 and July 11 at the same timing…

First time student (F and M) and exchange visitor (J) applicants have to pay the I-901 Student Exchange Vistor Information System (SEVIS) fee prior to applying for a U.S. visa. Effective June 24, 2019 the I-901 SEVIS fee for F and M international students has been revised from $200 to $350 and for certain J…

Subscribers to Murthy India Bulletin may be aware that one needs to create a profile and schedule an appointment through https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in – the official visa information website of the U.S. mission in India. U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants in India may already be aware of the frustratingly long wait for most categories of U.S. visa appointments.…

Regular readers of Murthy India Bulletin may be aware that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has field offices in a few countries. Earlier this year, it was announced that these field offices would be shut down. In an effort towards this, the USCIS has announced that effective July 1, 2019 – the…

The form now seeks information about certain social media platforms and handles used by the visa applicant in the last five years. While reviewing the form DS-160, in the section seeking information about address and phone, the following additional questions are listed: • Have you used additional phone numbers in the last five years? •…