No in-person Interviews for the H-1B Visa Holders! Great news, Isn’t it?

visamintdigital Dec 30, 2021 02:15 1302 0

In the wake of the Pandemic and ongoing chaos and emergence of the Omicron variant, the U.S. immigration department is going to call off interviews for the H-1B Visas and other non-immigrant visas for the entire coming year, i.e., until the end of 2022, i.e., December 31, 2022. Isn’t that a great piece of news for you to chew?

This statement is from the Official Website: “We are pleased to announce that consular officers are now temporarily authorized, through December 31, 2022, to waive in-person interviews for certain individual petition-based non-immigrant work visas in the following categories: Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), Trainee or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas), Intracompany Transferees (L visas), Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O visas),” the press release said on Thursday.

The Visa categories that are waived off for the in-person interviews are the following:

Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), visas for students (F and M visas), temporary agricultural and non-agricultural workers, student exchange visitors (Academic J visas), as well as athletes, artists, and entertainers.

This new announcement also applies to the temporary workers seeking H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q visas which meet the stipulated criterion, including the fact that they are applying for a visa in their country of nationality or residence.

Under this authority, consular officers have discretion to waive the visa interview requirement for individual petition-based H-1, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q applicants who had previously issued any visa and who have never been refused access unless such refusal was overcome or waived, and who have no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility; or first-time individual petition-based who are citizens or nationals of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), provided they have no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility, and they have previously traveled to the United States using an authorization obtained via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), says the U.S., Citizenship, and Immigration web portal.

The Official U.S. immigration web portal also says that the Secretary extended previously approved policies to waive the visa interview for specific students, professors, research scholars, short-term scholars, or specialists (F, M, and academic J visa applicants) through the end of 2022.

So, if the above information inspired you and you want to know more about what qualifies you for the criteria mentioned above, call VisaMint Overseas Services and book an appointment with our U.S. Immigration experts. Also, you can write to us and tell us your convenient time, and we will get back to you in no time.