News Release from Jewell Stewart & Pratt PC The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has reported that U.S. Consular Posts in India are experiencing extraordinary wait times for nonimmigrant visa interview appointments. The wait times for all categories other than B, F, and J are currently:
These wait times are likely to continue, if not worsen, during the summer. Indian nationals who are considering obtaining a new visa may therefore wish to defer that travel until the backlogs have subsided; or, if their travel is essential, to be prepared for long delays in the scheduling of visa interviews. AILA provides the following helpful reminders:
- The Mission India visa appointment system allows requests for expedited appointments. First priority goes to cases with humanitarian issues. Second priority goes to business emergencies; such requests must include reasons why the need to travel is urgent, why advance planning was not possible, the impact to the business if the travel does not occur, etc.
- Applicants for a petition-based visa must have already obtained USCIS approval of the underlying petition before requesting an interview.
- If an Indian national has reason to travel to another jurisdiction, applying outside of India as a Third Country National may be an option. Such applications are mostly likely to be successful in petition-based cases where INA §214(b) does not apply (i.e., H-1B and L-1).
Jewell Stewart & Pratt will continue to monitor progress and will report significant developments here.
AILA members can access the original post at www.aila.org (doc. no. 16061330, dated June 13, 2016).
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