We provided an update on the conversion of PIO (Person of Indian Origin) cards to OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) cards without consular fees in our July 2017 bulletin. A recent update on the website of Cox & Kings Global Services, the official partner of Embassy of India in the United States, indicates the revision…

A recent update on form DS-160 indicates that all nonimmigrant visa applicants must include the start date of the present employment. This update may seem trivial, but this information may help the consular officer understand the number of years/months the applicant has been working in the present organization, which could potentially impact the outcome of…

The policy memorandum issued by the USCIS on Feb 22, 2018 requires H1B petitioners to submit proper documentation for the H1B employees who will be working from an end-client/third party location. The petitioner must include an itinerary with the specific worksite(s) and dates of service for each worksite, along with relevant contracts, specific statement of…

On February 6, 2018, we had reported that the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) was temporarily unavailable since February 5, 2018. The services have resumed and now, U.S. visa applicants can continue to check the status of thier application online.

The Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) is temporarily unavailable since February 5, 2018. There is no official update as to why this is not available. During such time, applicants will not be able to check on the status of their visa application. We will update once the facility is available.

Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card holders often believe they hold dual citizenship in India. We wish to clarify that the Constitution of India does not allow holding Indian citizenship and Citizenship of a foreign country simultaneously (dual citizenship). A registered Overseas Citizen of India is granted multiple entry, multipurpose, life-long visa for visiting India.…

Recently, Indian Ministry of External Affairs withdrew the following proposals: (1) To issue orange color jackets for passports requiring emigration checks (ECR) and (2) Discontinue printing of address, parents and spouse information on last page. Ministry of External Affairs proposed the plan of issuing orange colored passports for those who require emigration checks (ECR) and…

All nonimmigrant visa applicants are subject to the presumption of immigrant intent pursuant to INA §214(b). The applicants must evidence strong family, financial, business and/or employment ties to their home country and demonstrate an intention to return to residence abroad to overcome this presumption. However, H1B and L-1 visa applicants are expressly exempted from this…

Impact of mental health and harmful behavior on U.S. visa application: As our regular readers may be aware, applicants with psychological/mental health issues are subject to a mandatory psychiatrist evaluation by an approved panel physician before the visa can be issued. If the applicant has been found to have both psychological/mental health issues and harmful…

Nonimmigrant visa applicants in India must (1) complete form DS-160 – nonimmigrant visa application, (2) create a profile on www.ustraveldocs.com/in using passport and other personal details and (3) pay the consular/machine readable visa (MRV) fee to either schedule his/her visa interview at one of the consular post or generate the appointment letter for the interview…