The U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced July 25, 2025, a significant change to its interview waiver policy effective Sept. 2, 2025. This policy revision will require most nonimmigrant visa applicants to attend in-person consular interviews, altering the visa processing landscape for HR departments and legal teams. This change arrives following a rollback that began
The U.S. Department of State has unexpectedly updated various Consular websites with revised eligibility requirements for the Visa Interview Waiver (also known as dropbox or mail-in) program, reverting to narrower pre-COVID-era eligibility criteria. The interview waiver program simplifies the procedure to apply for a U.S. visa stamp by eliminating the requirement for eligible individuals to
On Dec. 23, 2022, the U.S. Department of State announced an extension of interview waivers for certain nonimmigrant visas, and their qualifying derivatives, through Dec. 31, 2023.
Consular officers are authorized to waive interviews for the following visa categories: H-2, F, M, J, H-1B, H-3, H-4, L, O, P, and Q visas. Temporary workers who
In response to the ongoing COVID-19-related circumstances that have significantly hampered visa processing, the State Department has announced that it will expand and extend the nonimmigrant visa interview waiver program through Dec. 31, 2022.
Accordingly, U.S. consular officers are now authorized to waive in-person interviews for certain individual petition-based nonimmigrant work visas and their qualifying