The U.S. Consulate in Kingston, Jamaica has announced that effective October 31, 2014, it will restrict the ability of certain (but not all) third-country nationals (TCNs) to apply for and obtain a U.S. visa stamp at the Kingston Consular Section. TCN Visa Stamp Application Restrictions Effective October 31, 2014 Effective October 31, 2014, the U.S. [...]
The Department of State announced earlier today that starting November 12, 2014, the U.S. and PR China have agreed to start issuing longer-term visas for visitors and students. Chinese nationals who qualify for a B-category nonimmigrant visa (NIV) may now be issued multiple-entry visas for up to 10 years for business and travel. Qualified Chinese [...]
Effective September 12, 2014, the Department of State is changing the visa processing fees. Some of the fees will increase, while some will decrease. For example, the fees for K nonimmigrant visa applications will increase. On the other hand, most immigrant visa processing fees will decrease (some by a substantial amount). Nonimmigrant Visas The Department [...]
We are getting updates from the U.S. Department of State and from other sources that the global visa processing system used by the Department of State to process U.S. visa applications and passports is experiencing technical problems -- as a result, U.S. Consulates around the world are unable, at least temporarily, to complete visa application [...]
The Department of State (DOS) has just confirmed that due to increasingly heavy demand by Canada-based visa applicants, the seven U.S. visa processing posts (U.S. Consulates) in Canada are extremely limited in their ability to accept TCN cases during the peak demand period of June, July, and August. TCN refers to "third-country nationals" or non-Canadians [...]
The Department of State (DOS) has provided a number of interesting observations and statistics about the processing of visas at each of the U.S. Consulates in New Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. The reported information is as of late November 2013 but most of it is not time-sensitive and we believe remains current as of today. [...]
The Department of State ("DOS") routinely publishes the denial rate for B-1/B-2 visitor visas for each fiscal year (October 1 to September 30). The fiscal year (FY) 2012 data has been published and we share it with our clients and readers. It is interesting to note the countries with the highest and lowest denial rates. [...]
The Department of State ("DOS") has reported that they are transitioning to an online immigrant visa application as of September 3, 2013. Immigrant visa applicants who are processing their immigrant visas (green cards) through the National Visa Center (NVC)/U.S. Consulate will now need to complete the DS-260 form online (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien [...]
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is reporting a possible disruption of visa services at U.S. Embassy in Turkey. The Embassy stated that because of protests and riots throughout the country, visa services for non-U.S. citizens may be disrupted with little to no notice in the coming days.
The Department of State ("DOS") has announced and launched an online system which allows applicants who have cases pending with DOS to check the status on their applications. The system works for both Immigrant Visa (IV) and Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) applications filed/pending at either the National Visa Center (NVC) or at a U.S. Consular Section [...]