All U.S. nonimmigrant visa applicants need to complete form DS-160. Recently, additional security questions have been included in this form. The following is a summary of these additional questions: Are you the spouse, son, or daughter of an individual who has engaged in terrorist activity, including providing financial assistance or other support to terrorists or…

Recently we reported that, as of September 1, 2019, all eligible nonimmigrant visa applicants in India should schedule their appointments prior to submitting their respective visa applications and passports at one of the eleven visa application centres (VAC) in India. Effective October 1, 2019, the VACs will no longer accept walk-ins. Additionally, nonimmigrant visa applicants can submit…

This article is common to INA 221(g) refusals pertaining to both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants. In general, a refusal pursuant to INA 221(g) means that the consular post either requires additional information / documents, or background verification before a final decision can be made. If the consular post requires additional information / documentation at…

U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants in India may pay the visa application fee through NEFT, phone or cash. If the amount is paid at a bank by way of cash, in general the bank official will take the exact amount and the applicant should not face any issues. While paying the fee online through NEFT or…

In general, U.S. immigrant visa applicants will be issued a sealed packet with civil documents and information, which she / he should present to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer at the time of first entry into the United States for further processing. We recently reported that the National Visa Center (NVC) started accepting civil documents electronically…

U.S. visa applicants who are familiar with the dropbox application process may be aware that, prior to September 1, 2019, eligible applicants could just complete the visa application form, create / update profile on www.ustraveldocs.com/in, pay the visa application fee, generate the dropbox letter and submit applicable documents at one of the eleven CGI document drop-off locations from Monday to…

The consular exchange rate is revised to INR 72 to a US$ with effect from July 29, 2019. This revision will affect all immigrant and non-immigrant visa related fees payable at any Consular post in India. Applicants who paid the visa application fee on or before July 28, 2019 can use the receipt to schedule…

All U.S. Immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants need to complete the respective visa application form by visiting Consular Electronic Application Center’s website. Earlier today, we reported that the CEAC site was down. The CEAC website is back up and working now. U.S. visa applicants can now create/edit/submit an application.