Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, international travel remains at a trickle. But, if you must make a trip to the US, and your visa expired within the last 4 years, there is a possibility that you may qualify for the U.S. Embassy's interview waiver program.
It's part of the Embassy's catch-up mechanism as they try to clear a backlog of applications during the pandemic. This afternoon, Consular Officer Melissa Sandoval granted the media a teleconference interview to explain the criteria for this waiver:
Melissa Sandoval - Consular Officer, U.S. Embassy
"The main thing that I wanted to communicate to applicants today is that for our interview waiver program, instead of applicants being eligible if their visa expired within the last 12 months, now, we have expanded the timeframe to 48 months. So, essentially, if your visa has expired within the last 4 years, and you're applying within the same visa category - for example, if you're applying for a tourist visa, and you previously had a tourist visa, or if you're applying for a transit visa, and you're reapplying for that, then you qualify, as long as you're applying within the same visa category. So, that is the good news that we wanted to deliver to applicants as a way to address our backlog, and reduce the number of applicants who appear at the embassy to maintain safety and health measures for both the applicants and our staff alike."
But, if you are required to attend an interview as part of your visa application, there are a few best-practices that the consular officer reminded the public about. Here's the advice she gave on how to approach the interview portion of the application process:
At this time, the Embassy has no announcement to make any change in visa application fees.
