Some great news for professionals and students in India, who plan to go for US visa stamping… on November 18th the U.S. Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer announced flexible option to pick your choice of consulate for visa stamping. He believes that this change would position them better to serve the Indian visa applicants, US citizens and Businesses in India.
Summary of News : Pick your Choice of Consulate for US visa Stamping
Usually, when you schedule for any US visa stamping, during the application process you were restricted to choose your consulate based on your residence. i.e., if you live in Andhra Pradesh, you had to schedule your visa stamping only at Hyderabad (with few exceptions). From now, there is no such restriction. You can schedule your visa stamping at any consulate…your choice ! well, if you are have sentiment or notion that you will get visa only at Chennai, you can do so 🙂 irrespective of your residence…
Also, the new consular districts are re-organized now with few states shuffled. This does not change anything from a visa applicant perspective because your residence does not bind you to any consulate.
When is this effective ?
The consulate press release says “Now”…which means, it is effective from the day they did the press release i.e. Nov 18th, 2010.
Read the original press release by US Embassy: More Convenient US visa application Process
What do you think of the flex option now ? Second time visa stamping folks, will you go to the first consulate again ?
Image Credit : http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_afk-Egip2qY/TOauG_pELWI/AAAAAAAADXg/8edv2ZU2cNg/s400/choice.jpg
Hi Kumar!
I got consular processing on my visa and chose home country for my interview location. However now I wish to take the interview in a different country (got a visa for travel there and need to leave). Is that possible even if the I797 states a consulate in my home country? Please note I’m not an indian citizen, so factor that into your response.
Yes, you can go to other consulate, does not matter…Your citizenship does not matter as well.. Make sure you select the consulate that you plan to give interview at, when you fill out DS-160. Read H1 different consulate
When can I change the US Visa Post while scheduling the interview dates? If I select India-Chhattisgarh it automatically select Mumbai consulate and doesn’t give me any option to change it?
Can I change the consulate to New Delhi after the paying the interview fees? Have tried searching on the internet but none of the posts clearly tell when exactly can I change the interview post to the desired location?
Any suggestion is highly appreciated.
Yes, in general, you should be able to do it after you pay the fees. To get more info on exactly how to do it and confirm the same, you can call the customer service.
Hi Vikas,
Were you able to change your consulate and date after you paid the fees by using the “reschedule interview” option? Please let me know.
The consulate I selected when my H1B petition was submitted was Chennai. But when I got my petition approval, I’m seeing ‘Mumbai’ as the consulate in the I-797 form. Can I choose Chennai when I apply for visa stamping?
Thanks for this very useful information. I could not find it stated in clear terms on the official consulate pages or elsewhere.
I would like to add that, yes indeed we can choose any of the consulate locations in India for US Visa interview, as per our convenience. However, it is NOT advisable to select a different location for interview from what had been selected during filling the DS160 application (even though the system allows it). This can lead to complications as DS160 once submitted is consulate-specific.
How do you select the visa interview location? It automatically captures a city near to your state of residence.
What did you do? I’m facing a similar issue.
Ganesh,
Did you get the solution to this problem – Visa interview is automatically getting picked up based on my residence. However, I want to schedule visa interview at a different location? Please let me know.
Tapas,
Did you find a solution to this problem of not being able to select a different consulate? Please let me know
In my I-797 form, Hyderabad consulate is mentioned but i have chosen ‘Delhi’ consulate for my visa interview in DS-160 form, do my petitioner or my self needs to submit any documents regarding my consulate changing ?
Thanks in advance
Siva Kumar
In DS-160 i have mentioned ‘mumbai’ as the consulate i will be applying for visa but if i do not find appointment for the date i need in mumbai , can i go ahead and choose another consulate?
Thanks in advance
saurabh
Saurabh,
You can go to a different consulate as well. You are not required to go to only the consulate mentioned in the DS form.
Durgesh,
I agree…very flexible for people living in state borders or close to other state embassy.
I think its great!! 🙂