Under the new visa interview procedure, effective September 26, 2012, when an applicant schedules a visa appointment, s/he can choose an Offsite Facilitation Center or authorized Blue Dart office to hold the passport until s/he can collect it (if the visa is approved). Subscribers to MurthyIndiaBulletin and visitors to MurthyIndiaDotCom also are aware that applicants…

Regular readers of MurthyIndiaBulletin and MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that a new visa application procedure has been in place in India since September 26, 2012. Under the new procedure, all nonimmigrant visa applicants requiring a personal interview must schedule two appointments – one with the Offsite Facilitating Centre (OFC) to complete biometrics, and the other with…

A recent notification indicates that, with effect from October 1, 2013, U.S. visa applicants from State of Bihar will fall under the Consular District of U.S. Consulate in Kolkata. Previously, they were covered under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Since there is no restriction based on geographic location, U.S. visa applicants…

A recent update on the US Travel Docs website indicates that all applicants with non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled for September 11, 2013 at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate(s) in India will have to login to their profile at www.ustraveldocs.com/in and reschedule this to another date. This change affects only non-immigrant U.S. visa applicants in India…

Effective September 9, 2013, U.S. consular posts will accept only the new version of USCIS Form I-129S, used for L visa applications at U.S. Consulate or Embassy, that are based on approved blanket L-1 petitions. Readers may recall that, as of December 1, 2011, all blanket L-1 visa processing in India is being handled exclusively…

Thanks to a recent update to the visa interview scheduling system, at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in; now U.S. non-immigrant visa applicants in India can view the number of appointments available for every time slot. For example if an interview time is available for September 3, 2013 at 10:30 a.m., the new system will list the number of appointments…

With effect from Friday, August 30, 2013; the U.S. consular exchange rate will be adjusted to INR 65 to one US$. More recently, the consular exchange rate was revised to INR 62 to one US$ on July 03, 2013. This revision in the exchange rate will affect the INR equivalent for all application fees paid…

Regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that the U.S. Citizenship Services Section of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, periodically provides outreach services at Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), to help U.S. citizens. The next outreach program at Bengaluru is scheduled for August 6 to September 11-13, 2013. More information on the services offered and procedure to schedule…

Regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware that the U.S. Citizenship Services Section of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai, periodically provides outreach services at Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), to help U.S. citizens. The next outreach program at Bengaluru is scheduled for August 6 to August 8, 2013. More information on the services offered and procedure to schedule…

Effective February 1, 2013, all applicants seeking a U.S. immigrant visa will have to pay an additional fee of US$ 165, which must be paid online after approval of the immigrant visa and before travel to the United States. The following immigrants are exempt from this fee: Prospective adoptive parents whose child is entering the…