These types of interview waiver authorities have got reduced visa appointment wait around times at many embassies and consulates by freeing up in-person interview appointments for other applicants who seem to require an interview. Nearly half the almost seven million nonimmigrant visas the Department issued in Fiscal Year 2022 were adjudicated without an in-person interview. We are successfully lowering visa wait times globally, following closures during the pandemic, and making every energy to further reduce those wait times as quickly as possible, including designed for first-time tourist visa applicants.
Embassies and consulates may still need an in-person interview on the case-by-case basis and based upon local conditions. We encourage applicants to check embassy and consulate websites for more comprehensive information about this development, along with current operating status plus services. For more information, visit the Bureau of Consular affairs travel site .
The Department associated with State recognizes the positive influence of travel to the United States by foreign student and temporary work visa holders over the U. S. economy and it is committed to facilitating nonimmigrant travel and further reducing visa wait times. We are pleased to declare that the Secretary of Condition has made a determination extending the authority of consular officers to waive in-person interviews for certain nonimmigrant visa categories through December 31, 2023.
Consular officers are authorized, via December 31, 2023, to keep to waive in-person interviews on a case-by-case basis for certain first-time and/or renewing applicants. These categories of visas are for Temporary Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Workers (H-2 visas), Students (F and M visas), and Academic Trade Visitors (academic J visas), and certain beneficiaries of approved individual petitions regarding nonimmigrant temporary worker visas in the following categories: People in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), Trainee or Exclusive Education Visitors (H-3 visas), Intracompany Transferees (L visas), Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O visas), Sportsmen, Artists, and Entertainers (P visas), and Participants in International Cultural Exchange Applications (Q visas); and being approved derivatives. These waivers are usually authorized by a determination from the Secretary of State using the concurrence of the Department of Homeland Security.
The authorization to waive the in-person interview pertaining to applicants renewing a visa for australia in the same classification inside 48 months of the prior visa’s expiration was previously certified to remain in place until more notice.
