On December 13, 2012, the United States and Canada signed an agreement to share visa and immigration information of third-country nationals who apply for visas or travel permits for either country. This agreement is intended to increase the safety and security of the U.S. and Canada, and to facilitate legitimate travel and business. Under the…

With effect from today, December 3, 2012, the U.S. consular exchange rate has been adjusted to INR 57 to one US$. Previously, the consular exchange rate was INR 55 to one US$. This revision in the exchange rate will affect the INR equivalent for all application fees paid on or after December 3, 2012, for…

We have reported on IWP in our earlier article / news brief which can be found here. In addition to the visa categories listed in the earlier article, now, U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants seeking to renew their H and L visas could avail this facility, if they continue to work for the same petitioner under the…

Regular visitors to MurthyIndiaDotCom and subscribers to the MurthyIndiaBulletin are aware that the Visa Interview Waiver Program (IWP) was introduced in March 2012 by the U.S. Embassy and Consulate(s) in India. There have been some changes in the eligibility criteria recently. Please visit here for a detailed report.

The Indian Rupee has gained steadily for the past few weeks and on account of this, the U.S. consular exchange rate has been adjusted to INR 55 to one US$ with effect from Tuesday, October 8, 2012. Previously, this was INR 58 to one US$. This revision in the exchange rate will affect the INR…

The support at www.ustraveldocs.com/in have clarified that U.S. visa applicants who have already paid the U.S. visa application fee at one of the designated HDFC bank and have a receipt with PIN can use this to book an interview using the new system from September 24, 2012. At this time, applicants are receiving an error…

A recent notification on the U.S. Consulate’s official website indicates that the visa section and the library will remain closed on Friday September 21, 2012 as well. This update can be found here. With this, the visa section has remained closed the whole of this week. Further, it is unclear if the consulate will function next…

An update on the website of the U.S. Consulate in Chennai indicates that the visa section will remain closed through Thursday, September 20, 2012. This notification also indicated that all visa applicants scheduled for visa interviews are being contacted and informed of the cancellation. This update can be found here.

Today, September 17, 2012, the new U.S. Visa application website (http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in) was partially functional. Visa applicants will have to create a user account to be able to use this site. One login is sufficient for a family. At the time of this writing the new system does not permit to provide home address for delivery…

Following the unfortunate incident at the U.S. Consulate, Chennai on Friday, September 14, 2012; a notification on the U.S. Visa application Centre (VFS) website indicates that the U.S. Consulate in Chennai will remain closed on September 17 and 18, 2012. We understand that applicants will be notified of the new appointment at a later point…