Favorable Developments for H-1B, L-1A/B and Other Visa Applicants in India 2012
November 27, 2012
The Department of State has recently announced that certain repeat travelers to the United States from India can now renew their visa stamps without appearing for a consular interview. Depending on various factors, found here, repeat applicants may either qualify to apply for visa renewal via "Dropbox," which does not require fingerprinting, or for the Interview Waiver Program, which does require fingerprinting. Please note that the Department of State still reserves the right to call any applicant for interview, as needed. State Department general instructions for visa processing are found here .
Under the current IWP, Indian visa applicants who are renewing visas that are still valid or expired within the last 48 months may submit their applications for streamlined processing include the following categories:
- Business/Tourism (B1 and/or B2)
- Dependent (J2, H4, L2)
- Transit (C) and/or Crew Member (D) - including C1/D.
- Children applying before their 7th birthday traveling on any visa class
- Applicants applying on or after their 80th birthday traveling on any visa class
On November 17, 2012, the Department of State expanded the IWP to include H-1B and individual L-1A or individual L-1B holders, among other repeat travelers in the following categories:
- Children applying before their 14th birthday traveling on any visa class
- Students returning to attend the same school and same program
- Temporary workers on H1-B visas with the same employer, where visa is still valid or expired within the last 12 months
- Temporary workers on Individual L1-A or Individual L1-B visas with the same employer, where visa is still valid or expired within the last 12 months
Under the Department's recently implemented visa processing program rolled out in September 2012, all applicants should be aware of the following:
- Plan for the possibility of having to make two interview appointments
- Consulates should return passports with visa stamps in about one week, at various centers via e-mail or mobile notification
