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The United States Department of State has announced a new rule that starts right away. This rule tells non-immigrant visa applicants, including those from India, that they must book their interview appointments only in their own country or where they legally reside. The goal of this change is to stop the previous method that allowed applicants to apply from neighboring countries with shorter waiting times. According to a statement from the US State Department on Saturday, these new visa regulations will be applied worldwide. The statement indicated that, "Starting now, the Department of State has revised guidelines for non-immigrant visa applicants… (they) should set up visa interview appointments at the US embassy or consulate in their country of citizenship or residence."

This decision will directly affect Indian applicants who have recently sought interview spots in places like Singapore, Thailand, and Germany to avoid long waits at home. Therefore, Indians needing to travel to the US quickly will no longer be able to book a B1 (business) or B2 (tourism) appointment abroad. The new policy restricts this option, except in a few special cases where the US does not usually handle non-immigrant visa processes. Citizens of countries where the US government does not routinely provide non-immigrant visas can apply at a specified embassy or consulate unless they live in a different country, as stated. This includes residents of countries like Afghanistan, Cuba, Chad, Russia, and Iran, among others.

Experts in the field suggest that this limitation could increase the existing backlog. Earlier this year, waiting times for visas ranged from 3.5 months in Hyderabad and Mumbai to 5 months in Kolkata, and in Chennai, it even reached nine months. Previously, tourists arranged their interviews in other countries, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused wait times to reach up to three years in India due to a backlog of applications. When travel began again in 2021, travel agents remembered that many Indians went to other nations, such as Germany, for B1/B2 visa interviews, as the wait time for these visas in India was 15-20 months at that point. Two years ago, to help Indian applicants, the US embassy in Frankfurt set aside interview slots specifically for them. On September 2, a new rule started that requires all non-immigrant visa applicants to have in-person interviews, as the US Department of State reduced the Interview Waiver Program (Dropbox).

Now, most applicants will need to attend interviews at a US Embassy or Consulate, which they were previously allowed to skip. The visas affected by this new requirement include categories H, L, F, M, J, E, and O, even for those over 79 years old and children under 14.