The applicants can choose visa interview waiver, or drop box option across 11 drop-off locations in India.
For those re-applying for a US visa, the most time-consuming part remains appearing for the visa interview. But beginning the September 1, certain visa applicants are eligible for interview waiver.
In order to reduce the turnaround time for visa renewals, an interview waiver program for certain eligible visa applicants has been introduced in India. The applicants can opt for a drop box option and choose from 11 locations across India.
The applicants, however, are required to schedule an appointment for a drop off in these locations. During the appointment, the applicant is required to drop off their passport and visa application materials.
This can be done at any of the drop off locations in India, located in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Pune, Kochi, Jalandhar, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.
During the drop-off appointment, an officer would review the documents before accepting the application. This new step would reduce the turn-around time. So, while in the recent past, the average turn-around time was three weeks, according to the new update, the turn-around time would now be reduced to anywhere from 7 to 10 business days.
Who is eligible for the interview waiver?
And the big question: Who are the individuals that qualify for the interview waiver? According to the new updates, if you are under the age of 14, or over the age of 80, you do qualify for the interview waiver. But that is not the only criterion eligible for interview waiver. Some individuals that are applying for a renewal of the visa may be eligible if they meet certain criterion. The conditions include the following:
The individual is asking for a visa renewal in the same class as his previous visa.
There have been no visa refusals after the granting of the last visa.
The person received the visa after the year 2008.
The latest visa that the individual possessed was issued in India and at no point the visa was cancelled.
2 Comments
This does not seem to be applicable anymore “The latest visa that the individual possessed was issued in India” as my last stamp was in Canada but I still got the waiver and application didn’t even ask about country where current visa was issued.
Yes this condition removed in Aug 2021