Regular readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom and MurthyIndiaBulletin are aware that the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India introduced optional courier delivery service in May 2013 for non-immigrant visa applicants. This facility was later extended to immigrant visa applicants. A recent update on http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/ indicates that this service will be terminated with effect from November 30, 2013. U.S. visa applicants who have already availed this service on or prior to November 30, 2013 will continue to receive the passport or documents at their preferred address. This facility was extremely useful for applicants residing in places without an Offsite Facilitating Centre (OFC) or an authorized Blue Dart office.

Effectively, post November 30, 2013, applicants or their representatives will be able to collect the passport or documents only from the OFC or authorized Blue Dart office. At present there are 33 authorized passport / document collection locations in India. More information on passport collection can be found at http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp. We hope that this facility is reintroduced as this will benefit thousands of visa applicants who apply for a visa each day at the U.S. Embassy / Consulate(s) in India. We will keep our readers informed on any change in this policy.