This means, the applicant, if eligible may submit an application and all required documents into a “Dropbox” and expect the renewal to be approved and mailed to his residence. The dropbox option allows for certain visa renewals to go through without an interview. If everything is in order, you should receive your approved visa and your passport within a couple of weeks. Copy of I-797, H1-B Approval, if applicable.The US State Department announcement read – “In the coming days, the US Embassy and Consulates in India will release more than 20,000 additional interview waiver (drop box) appointments for Spring 2022 to allow qualified applicants to make use of the new interview waiver authority.”įurthermore, “Due to reduced staffing and numerous pandemic related disruptions to our operations since March 2020, appointment demand is high across all visa categories and wait times may be lengthy for most routine non-immigrant visa appointments at the US Embassy in New Delhi and the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai.”Īre you eligible for a Dropbox appointment in India? Here’s the COMPLETE Dropbox process for 2022 What Documents Do You Submit at the DropBox when Renewing a Non-Immigrant US Visa? New Dropbox Visa Appointment Slots Available In situations when the passport is stamped without having to attend an in-person interview, is called Dropbox stamping. In most cases, applicants have to travel to their home country, get an appointment at the local US consulate and get their passport stamped if the Consular officer approves the H1-B extension. For certain renewal applicants, the passport can be stamped without having to attend an in-person visa interview. Visa renewals and Dropbox appointments were reduced to a bare minimum.Īre H4 Visa Holders Eligible For DropBox – What Is The Process? Dropbox AppointmentĬertain non-immigrant visas like H1-B can be renewed after the first three years of being issued. H1-B, L1 and their dependent visas H4 and L2 visa appointments are hard to get. They are unable travel back to the US to their jobs and to their families separated in the US. While pandemic travel bans were lifted by November 2022, many Indian nationals are still in a limbo. As a result, many non-immigrant visa holders who needed their visas stamped in India are unable to get visa interview appointments.
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Given that India was one of the largest countries hit by the pandemic, the US was swift to impose travel bans and reduce staff at all their consulates in India. The Coronavirus pandemic led lockdowns, shortage of staff and global travel restrictions have impacted the visa processing across all US consulates abroad. New appointment slots will be available by Spring 2022. This has come when there are scores of eligible visa applicants hesitating to travel to India for a lack of available appointments.
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In a welcome move, The US State Department has announced an additional 20,000 dropbox interview waiver appointment slots in various US consulates in India.