New York: The United States has waived in-person interview requirement for visa applicants of certain categories, including students and workers, at its diplomatic missions in India this year.
Applicants eligible for the waiver are students (F, M, and academic J visas), workers (H-1, H-2, H-3, and individual L visas), culture and extraordinary ability (O, P, and Q visas), The Indian Express reported.
“This is much-needed support to visa applicants. This would be very helpful to our friends and immediate family members and remove a lot of their concerns and remove inconveniences,” Ajay Jain Bhutoria, South Asian Community Leader and US President Joe Biden’s Advisor for Asian Americans, said after his meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for South Central Asia, Donal Lu.
The American diplomat informed that through December 31, 2022, the US Department of State is authorised to waive in-person interview requirements for certain applicants and their qualifying derivatives in various non-immigrant visa classifications.
The condition for applicants seeking these visa classifications is that they must have previously been issued any category of US visa, have never been refused a US visa and have no indication of ineligibility or potential visa ineligibility.
They will also have to be a resident or national of the country in which they are applying.
A notice on the website of US Embassy in New Delhi states that the embassy and its consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai will release over 20,000 additional waivers (dropbox) appointments for Spring 2022 to allow qualified applicants to make use of the new interview waiver authority.