US Tourists Visa Update!

The US Embassy announced that it would resume visa appointments for tourist and visitor B1-B2 visas in India in September after the rush for student visas ended.

“The US mission to India is pleased to announce that in-person appointments for tourist visas will resume in September 2022,” the US Embassy announced on social media.

Earlier scheduled appointments will no longer take place. Applicants whose placeholder appointments were cancelled can now book regular appointments using the scheduling system. Appointments will be available through 2023," the announcement said.

Placeholders were B1-B2 visitor visa interview appointments granted to first-time applicants who were not eligible for interview waivers. Since the interviews were not actually being conducted, the placeholders will now be canceled.

Applicants with placeholder slots had the option to request expedited or emergency appointments through USCIS' scheduling system. However, if they did not have a valid reason, such requests were likely to be denied.

The US mission in India had stopped doing interviews for B1-B2 visas since March 2020 because of the COVID and the announcement about the resumption of tourist visa interviews comes as a big relief for many Indians who had been forced to put travel plans on hold for many months.