Step follows six day lockdown in the Indian capital with surge in Covid-19 cases.
As the Indian capital imposed a six day lockdown until Monday morning to contain the spread of Covid19, the US Embassy in New Delhi cancelled all visa appointments from April 20 to April 25.
“US Embassy New Delhi’s visa and VAC (Visa Application Center) appointments, both in-person and interview waiver, are cancelled from April 20-April 25 in light of the curfew,” the embassy tweeted.
The step followed the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s announcement of the ‘small lockdown’ as the city recorded around 23,500 Covid-19 cases in one day.
The US Consulate General in Mumbai too announced a curtailment of its services “due to rising Covid rates and for the safety and protection of our customers and staff.”
It “currently is only providing essential services to US citizens and limited and emergency nonimmigrant and immigrant visa services until further notice,” a notice on the embassy website said.
The consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata continue limited visa operations, but may cancel certain appointments as local conditions require, it said.
“If your visa appointment has been cancelled, you will be notified directly by email,” the announcement said. Applicants not notified of an appointment cancellation should plan to attend their interview appointment on the scheduled date and time, it said.
Due to limited appointment availability, the mission said it was “currently unable to reschedule any cancelled appointments.”
“We are also unable to speculate on or respond to inquiries regarding potential future cancellations or appointment availability,” it said.
New appointments can be made through its website at http://ustraveldocs.com/in.
“We will add appointments as often as we have availability, but we expect appointment slots to be filled quickly,” it said suggesting monitoring of visa appointment website for appointment availability.
Detailed information on the current status of visa services and restrictions related to the Covid-19 global pandemic can be found at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/covid-19-information.html.