At Murthy Immigration Services, we receive many queries on the validity of the visa processing fee receipt, from visa applicants who, after purchase of the visa application fee receipts, have had to change their passports. In this article, we are providing the procedure to be followed if a non-immigrant visa applicant finds him/herself in this situation.
Visa Processing Fee Receipt Required To Apply for Non-Immigrant Visa in India
Subscribers of MurthyIndiaBulletin and Readers of MurthyIndiaDOTCom are aware that the first step towards applying for a non-immigrant visa is to pay the visa processing fee at one of the designated HDFC Banks located across metros in India. Upon payment of the fees, the applicant will be issued a receipt in duplicate with a bar code on it. Information on this receipt (name, date of birth and passport number of the applicant) should match with the passport of the applicant.
Subsequent Change In Passport Information
Most common change in passport information could be a result of a change in biographic data of the passport holder or if the applicant(s)’s realized after payment of the visa processing fee that the validity of passport is less than six months from the date of application. Under these circumstances, they may have to obtain a new passport of have an observation made on the old passport.
Procedure to be followed if visa Interview Has Not Yet Been Scheduled
If the visa interview has not been scheduled yet, then the applicant(s) or their representative should visit the local US Visa Facilitation Services (VFS) office with both the old and new passports and the original HDFC receipt and request the VFS staff to update their records. In general, it takes at least one working day for the change to reflect on their system. Following this, the applicant(s) will have to follow the general procedure to schedule an appointment using the VFS system after completing the visa application form DS160.
It is also understood that one can send a scan copy of both the old and new passports and the HDFC receipt to the respective VFS office by eMail and request for this change to be effected. When Attorneys at Murthy Immigration Services Contacted the VFS center, we received conflicting information. However, if one is residing far from VFS service centers, then, s/he may try contacting them by eMail with the above information and making a request.
Procedure to be followed if visa interview has already been scheduled with old passport Information
If the applicant(s) have already scheduled a visa interview, using the old passport information, then s/he will have to cancel the appointment for visa interview and schedule a new one after the changes are carried out as indicated in the previous section. It is important to note that applicant(s) are permitted to cancel and rebook the appointment only once. If they cancel the second time, the PIN on the HDFC receipt is blocked for a period of 90 days. The applicant will have to approach the VFS to explain the reasons for the cancellation and request them to release it.
Conclusion
It is important to spend time ahead of starting the visa application process and ensure all information is accurate prior to commencing the application process. We encourage applicants to visit the VFS website for most current information on this process, prior to starting the process. VFS Contact information can be found here.
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