Who knew coronavirus disease(Covid-19) an pandemic could become a global pandemic! When you talk about normal people, people hardly believed that they could be infected.
And because of the pandemic, all routine visa services in most countries got suspended. But now things are getting back to normal and the services have been reinstated.
The State Department announced on Thursday that through next year, consular officers will be able to forego in-person interviews for H-1B and other non-immigrant visa applicants, reducing visa wait times. This waiver will be in effect until December 31, 2022.
“The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in profound reductions in the department’s visa processing capacity,” it said in a statement. “As global travel rebounds, we are taking these temporary steps to further our commitment to safely and efficiently reduce visa wait times while maintaining national security as our priority.”
H1B Becomes Easy: No Interview For H1B Visa At US Consular Offices
The DOS recognizes the positive impact of temporary work visa holders on the US economy and is committed to facilitating non-immigrant travel and reducing visa wait times.”
An official statement reads
We are pleased to announce that consular officers are now temporarily authorized, through December 31, 2022, to waive in-person interviews for certain individual petition-based non-immigrant work visas and their qualifying derivatives in the following categories: Persons in Specialty Occupation (H-1B visas), Trainee or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visa) Trainee or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas), Intracompany Transferees (L visas), Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O visas), Athletes, Artists, and Entertainers (P visas), and Participants in International Cultural Exchange Programs (Q visas), adds the statement.
Renewal Of Visa
The authorization to forego the in-person interview for applicants renewing a visa in the same visa class within 48 months of the prior visa’s expiration has also been extended indefinitely, according to the state department.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.