Managing Attorney Senthil Kumar was invited to speak at a Seminar on “Doing Business With USA” organized by the Global Trade Driver and Andhra Chamber of Commerce at the Golconda Hotel in Hyderabad recently. Attorney Senthil Kumar and Gnanamookan attended this program and met with Mr. Jamison Fouss, who assumed office as the Chief of Consular Section at Hyderabad in September this year. Mr. Jamison Fouss was the Chief Guest for the inaugural session of the program.

At the meeting Mr. Jamison spoke at the inaugural session on the visas generally and also indicated that the average current wait time at Hyderabad is 21 days and that their office is working to reduce this wait time. He urged business travellers to apply early. Mr. Jamison reiterated that applicants eligible for the interview waiver program should use this instead of blocking the interview slots for others who really need to be interviewed. He also reiterated the importance of not being adversely influenced by travel agents and consultants. It is understood that the consular section in Hyderabad process around 750 to 800 non-immigrant visa applications each day.

Speaking at the second session of the seminar, Attorney Senthil Kumar provided an overview of the non-immigrant visa application process, importance of paying attention to non-immigrant visa application form DS160, the responsibility of visa applicants and the imperative necessity to make an honest and truthful application. He also discussed about Business visas (B1); Work visas (L and H) and EB-5 investor visa program. Earlier when Mr. Jamison Fouss was present, Attorney Senthil Kumar brought to his attention the practical difficulties faced by non-immigrant visa applicants on account of the new system, which does not permit applicants to update the DS160 confirmation code after scheduling the appointment. Earlier, applicants could update this prior to biometrics. This feature was very useful if the applicant noticed that she made any critical errors on the form DS160 after scheduling the visa interview. The Chief of Communications team at Hyderabad who attended the event clarified that in such instances; the applicants could try to bring a new form and submit it at the time of biometrics and request the same to be updated on the system. If this is not accepted, the applicant may present this to the officer at the visa interview and at his/her discretion, the office may choose to accept the updated form.

We at Murthy Immigration Services thank Mr. Venkatagiri of The Global Trade Driver and the Andhra Chamber of Commerce for inviting our Attorneys to participate and speak at this seminar.