{"id":29181,"date":"2021-12-28T14:43:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T19:43:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/?p=29181"},"modified":"2021-12-29T12:09:28","modified_gmt":"2021-12-29T17:09:28","slug":"us-non-immigrant-visas-interview-waiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indianeagle.com\/travelbeats\/us-non-immigrant-visas-interview-waiver\/","title":{"rendered":"Good News for Indians! USA Waives Visa Interviews for Non-immigrants and Extends Dropbox Visa Stamping Indefinitely"},"content":{"rendered":"
Since the onset of the pandemic, the wait times for non-immigrant US visas have been as long as the prayers and hopes for eradication of the Novel Coronavirus.<\/strong> Indians who hold a majority of US visas in two main categories – employment and student – have had hard times securing slots for an in-person interview at the US Embassy and consulates in India during the pandemic. Many of them could not travel to the US due to the limited or non-availability of in-person visa interview slots in India.<\/p>\n The US government has already welcomed 2022 with good news for the non-immigrant community of Indians and other foreign nationals. Having anticipated another COVID-19 wave due to the surging cases of Omicron, the Biden administration has decided to waive in-person interviews for US visa applicants in various non-immigrant categories<\/strong> including H1B<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, H-2, H-3, L1, P1, O1, F1, M1, Q1, J1, and their qualifying derivatives. The US visa interview waiver for certain individual petitions will continue to be effective until December 31, 2022. Whether an individual applying for a non-immigrant visa can avail of the in-person interview waiver, is subject to the discretion exercised by the consular officers.<\/p>\n