US waives in-person interview for many visas for Indians till December 31, 2022

The United States has waived in-person interview requirements for many visa applicants, including students and workers, at its diplomatic missions in India through December 31 this year.

Applicants eligible for the waiver are students (F, M, and academic J visas), workers (H-1, H-2, H-3, and individual L visas), those under Culture and extraordinary ability category visas (O, P, and Q visas).

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Ajay Jain Bhutoria, South Asian Community Leader and US President Joe Biden’s Advisor for Asian Americans, said, "This was much-needed support to visa applicants, and would be very helpful to our friends and immediate family members and help alleviate a lot of their concerns and inconveniences."

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To be eligible for the expanded interview waiver programme, applicants seeking these visa classifications must have previously been issued any category of US visa; have never been refused a US visa and have no indication of ineligibility or potential visa ineligibility.

They also need to be a resident or national of the country in which they are applying; among other, the State Department said.

The US embassy in New Delhi and its consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai will release more than 20,000 additional waiver (dropbox) appointments for Spring 2022 to allow qualified applicants to make use of the new interview waiver authority.

The move is being seen as an effort to increase people-to people relationships between the US and India. Authorities say, both India and the US share strong democratic values and can provide leadership in the Asia Pacific region.