On December 21, 2023, the U.S. Secretary of State in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that specific categories of interview waivers are deemed to be in national interest. This will be effective January 1, 2024, onwards and will undergo annual review. Waiver of In-person Interviews Consular officers now possess the authority…

We had earlier reported that the U.S. Consulate, Chennai announced that they will resume visa processing following Cyclone Michaung from Monday, December 11, 2023. In the earlier announcement, it was noted that applicants for whom the appointments were cancelled (between December 4 to December 8) will be contacted directly with information on the rescheduling.  A…

The U.S. Consulate in Chennai announced today that visa application processing services will resume from Monday, December 11, 2023.  The news release indicates that visa appointments that were canceled due to the visa service closures from December 4 to December 8, 2023 are being rescheduled. This includes all consular appointments including dropbox and biometrics. Each affected applicant will…

The U.S. Consulate General, Chennai has announced that all Consular, Dropbox, Biometric and other Appointments scheduled for WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023 stands cancelled on account of CYCLONE MICHAUNG. The news release indicates that these appointments will be rescheduled and information on the rescheduling will be communicated to the applicants directly.  The news release also indicates that the…

The U.S. Consulate General, Chennai has cancelled all scheduled Consular, Dropbox, Biometric and any other Appointments until TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023 on account of CYCLONE MICHAUNG. The news release indicated that these appointments will be rescheduled and information on the rescheduling will be communicated to the applicants directly.  The news release also indicates that the U.S. Consulate…

Background U.S. visa applicants may recall that the procedure to apply for a nonimmigrant visa in India is to (1) first complete the visa application form DS160, (2) create an account of www.usvisascheduling.com, choose the right category of visa, and (3) pay the visa application fee. Once this is done, depending on eligibility, (4) one…

On October 17, 2023, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) sent a Federal Register notice to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which offers further details regarding an upcoming pilot initiative that will enable specific H-1B visa holders to secure a travel visa within the United States, eliminating the need to depart the country…

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently announced that effective immediately,  the maximum validity period of Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) will increase from one or two years under its prior policy to five years, for several work authorization categories.  The following categories will benefit from this policy change of maximum validity for EADs: For initial…

The new U.S. visa application system in India, which has become a nightmare for U.S. visa applicants is closed for maintenance from 6:30 p.m. EDT (4 a.m. Indian Standard Time) for two hours. Several U.S. visa applicants are facing difficulties with the new visa application system which was expected to make the process smoother for…

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has announced that beginning October 1, 2023, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India will begin centralizing the processing of most nonimmigrant visa interview waiver (drop box) cases in Chennai. This update can be found here and details are provided below. Highlights of the Announcement • Effective October 1,…