US visa interviews from June 22-26 cancelled

All non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi or the US Consulates General in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, or Hyderabad during the period June 22 to June 26, 2015 are cancelled.

In a press release issued today, the Embassy has advised visa applicants with appointments during that period to reschedule their appointments for biometric enrolment and visa interview to a date after July 6, 2015.

There is no need to contact the call centre or customer support, and persons simply need login to the visa appointment system profile and reschedule both of appointments at www.ustraveldocs.com/in. Upon the restoration of visa services, they will be notified via email or SMS when the passport is ready for pick up.

“The Department of State continues to experience technical problems with our visa systems. This is a global issue, and we are working around the clock to fix it. More than 100 computer experts from both the private and public sectors across the United States are working on this problem 24/7. That said, we do not expect the system will be online before next week,” the release said.

Those who have other urgent upcoming travels requiring them to have their passports back, their case will be placed on “Administrative Hold”. They should contact support-India@ustraveldocs.com to request their passports back. It will not have a U.S. visa at that time. After their return, the processing of the U.S. visa will be continued and the case will remain open for up to 12 months.

The problems stem from a hardware failure in a State Department facility in the United States on June 9. That failure is preventing the Department from processing and transmitting biometric data checks at visa-issuing embassies and consulates.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/international/us-embassy-cancels-visa-interviews-from-june-2226/article7329244.ece