Changes to U.S. Mission India’s Nonimmigrant Visa Processing

Quick Hits

• The U.S. State Department has revised drop box eligibility criteria, limiting it to applicants renewing a visa in the same class that is either still valid or expired within the last twelve months (a departure from the previous forty-eight-month policy for any visa class).
• Despite efforts to streamline processing, visa appointments for certain nonimmigrant categories remain backlogged by more than a year.
• U.S. Mission India broke records in 2024, issuing more than one million nonimmigrant visas for the second year in a row, underscoring the huge demand of Indians for travel to the United States for tourism, business, and education.

Interview Waiver (Drop Box) Changes

According to U.S. Mission India’s appointment scheduling service, applicants seeking a waiver of the standard visa interview requirement must meet stricter eligibility criteria:

• Applicants must have a previous U.S. visa in the same class as the visa they are applying for.
• The prior visa must be either still valid or have expired within the past twelve months.

This is a significant change from the previous policy, which permitted drop box processing for applicants with a visa in any category that had expired within the past forty-eight months.

The U.S. Visa Service Desk is advising visa applicants who have already scheduled an interview waiver appointment to review their eligibility. If they are no longer eligible for an interview waiver under the new criteria, they must cancel the existing appointment and reschedule a biometric and consular appointment for an in-person interview.

The narrower eligibility criteria mean more applicants will have to attend in-person visa interviews, which may further impact currently posted visa wait times:

Source: U.S. Department of State—Bureau of Consular Affairs

U.S. Mission India advises that drop box processing typically takes up to three weeks from document submission at a Visa Application Center (VAC) until the visa is ready for pick-up or delivery. However, due to the more restrictive eligibility criteria, more applicants will be required to schedule in-person interviews, potentially exacerbating wait times.

Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV) Rescheduling Policy

Effective January 1, 2025, the following rescheduling rules apply to nonimmigrant visa appointments:

• Applicants can initially schedule their visa appointment at any preferred location.
• One free reschedule is permitted.
• If an applicant misses an appointment or needs to reschedule a second time, they must repay the visa fee to book a new appointment.

Centralization of Visa Processing

To streamline operations, U.S. Mission India has centralized processing for certain visa categories:

• First-time H & L visa interview appointments → Centralized in Hyderabad
• First-time Blanket L visa applications → Processed in Chennai
• B1/B2 interview waiver (drop box) appointments → Centralized in New Delhi
• H & L interview waiver (drop box) appointments → Centralized in Chennai

Regardless of where the interview waiver appointment is scheduled, applicants can submit documents at any of the five Visa Application Centers (VACs) at no cost:

• Chennai
• Hyderabad
• Kolkata
• Mumbai
• New Delhi

Alternatively, applicants may submit documents at one of six Document Drop-off Centers for a fee of 850 rupees (approximately USD $9.81) per application:

• Ahmedabad
• Bangalore
• Chandigarh
• Cochin
• Jalandhar
• Pune

In certain cases, applicants may still be required to attend an in-person interview at the designated consular post where their visa category has been centralized.

Next Steps

Given the continued high demand and processing delays, stakeholders may want to schedule visa appointments as early as possible to minimize disruptions.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs has not yet announced whether it will extend or expand its domestic visa renewal pilot program, which ran from January to April 2024. With stricter interview waiver eligibility and more applicants now required to attend in-person interviews, visa processing times might increase, potentially leading to longer wait times across multiple visa categories.