Our regular readers are aware of the merger of Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, effective January 9, 2015. This information can be found here. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will accept only machine readable travel documents beginning October 1, 2018. All PIO card holders must obtain a machine…

On August 23, we reported that applicants at the U.S. Consulate, Chennai had to wait longer for non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled between August 23 and August 31, 2018. This delay was on account of temporary facility based issues at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. Applicants who had their interviews during these days were given an option…

Effective August 27, 2018, the consular exchange rate has been revised to ₹72 to one US$. This revision in exchange rate will affect the Indian rupee equivalent for all application fees paid on or after August 27, 2018. The revision is applicable across all non-immigrant and immigrant visa applications, and American Citizenship services. Effectively, the…

A recent update on the official information website of the U.S. missions in India indicates that there may be a longer wait on day of interview for non-immigrant U.S. visa applicants. This delay is on account of temporary facilities issues at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. This alert urges applicants scheduled for a visa interview…

On account of flooding in Kochi, the Document Collection Center at Kochi will only offer colletion of passport(s). The center will not accept documents until further notice. This update can be found here.

Effective August 12, 2018, the new address of the Visa Application Center (VAC) in New Delhi is: Shivaji Stadium Metro Station Concourse Level, Baba Kharak Singh Marg Connaught Place New Delhi 110001 If any applicant has selected the document delivery location as New Delhi VAC, they need to collect the documents from the above new…

An update on the official visa information website of the U.S. Mission in India indicates that the consular exchange rate (which is currently INR 70 to 1 USD) is set to change on August 27, 2018. Any payments made on or after this date will be affected. It is important to check the current consular…

If one is beneficiary of a cap-based H1B approved under FY2019 quota, s/he may apply for a H1B visa based on the approval. Most of the U.S. embassies / consulates in the world accept applications for an H1B visa up to 90 calendar days ahead of the start date mentioned on the approval notice. It is…

A: Each Individual must meet IWP eligibility independently Our regular readers are aware that certain applicants with nonimmigrant visas issued on or after January 1, 2008 are eligible for the interview waiver program (IWP) to renew their visas without having to appear for a personal visa interview with the consular officer. IWP eligibility criteria is…

We reported when USCIS launched Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Immigration Records SysTem (FIRST), which allows FOIA requestors to submit, manage, and receive FOIA requests entirely online. As part of phase one, after submission of request by mail, fax, or email, users / FOIA requestors were only able to login to their account and download…