We had reported on December 2, 2013 on the requirement for immigrant visa applicants to complete the new online immigrant visa application form DS-260 which replaces the paper based form DS-230 (Part I and II).

Another recent update indicates that effective December 23, 2013, all immigrant visa applicants need to schedule a biometric appointment through ustraveldocs.com/in at one of the Visa Application Centers in India. This is to provide the biometric fingerprint and submit required photographs ahead of the immigrant visa interview. We expect this procedure to significantly reduce the processing time at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and U.S. Consulate in Mumbai. It may be recalled that immigrant visas in India are processed only at these two posts.

This update can be found here.