US student visa appointments to open on Monday

The United States Mission to India will open the July and August student visa appointments at posts across India on June 14, the U.S Embassy in India announced on Thursday via Twitter. They added that they were making every attempt to facilitate travel in time for the fall semester, and that student visas remain a top priority.

To view the availability and schedule an appointment, students will have to visit the website, https://ustraveldocs.com /in.

“Prior to your visa interview, please review your I-20 program start date. Students beginning a new program with a program start date on or after August 1 may travel to the United States up to 30 days prior to the program start date and do not need to submit a request for a national interest exception,” it said.

“Continuing students may also resume their programs on or after August 1, and travel 30 days before their program resumption date. We are unable to approve expedite-requests for Fall 2021 students with scheduled appointments in July or August. If your appointment date may result in a potentially late start, please reach out to your school to discuss options,” the Embassy added.

However, in light of the travel suspension and the current pandemic situation in India, most other routine non-immigrant visa and VAC appointments at U.S. Embassy New Delhi and the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai remain extremely limited. Anyone with a scheduled upcoming appointment will have to check their US Travel Docs account to determine whether the appointment is still valid.