The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently announced the immediate end of the practice of allowing individuals to apply for nonimmigrant (e.g., short-term visas, such as H-1B, L-1, etc.) and immigrant (e.g., permanent resident a.k.a. green card) at a U.S. embassy or consulate in a country other than the country of their citizenship, nationality or place of last overseas residence (a practice commonly called "third-country processing"). While some exceptions to third-country processing were announced, the exceptions are extremely limited. Limited exceptions include those applicants applying for diplomatic and official-type nonimmigrant visas (e.g., A, G, C-2, C-3 and NATO) and where there is a compelling humanitarian, medical emergency or foreign policy concerns.
Individuals who have already scheduled third-county visa appointments will not have their appointments cancelled because of this policy change. Individuals who attempt to schedule a visa appointment based on their country of last residence will be required to demonstrate their residency in the country of application. Individuals from countries where the DOS is not routinely processing visas will be allowed to apply at certain designated U.S. embassies or consulates.
The DOS has also recently announced the end of the practice of waiving the in-person interview for some nonimmigrant visa applicants. This change means that all nonimmigrant visa applicants, including the previously exempt individuals under the age of 14 and over the age of 79, will have to attend an in-person interview with a U.S. embassy or consulate in order to be issued a nonimmigrant visa – regardless of whether they were previously issued a nonimmigrant visa in the past. Limited exceptions to this new policy exist for those applying for diplomatic and official-type nonimmigrant vias (e.g., A, G, C-2, C-3 and NATO) and those applying for either a B-1, B-2, B-1/B-2 tourist visa or a border Crossing Card/Foil within 12 months of their prior visa's expiration, were never finally refused a visa previously, and who were at least 18 years of age at the time that they were last issued a U.S. nonimmigrant visa.
Both of these changes are expected to result in significantly longer wait times for both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas worldwide. Multinational companies seeking to temporarily transfer overseas employees to the United States for development activities and individuals who currently hold a nonimmigrant status who will need to travel internationally will, for example, want to carefully monitor visa processing times via the DOS in order to plan anticipated international transfers significantly ahead of when an individual may be needed in the United States or to secure a visa appointment date sufficiently in advance to minimize potential disruptions to an individual's international travel requirements.
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