US visa interviews from June 22-26 cancelled

Applicants can reschedule appointments after July 6, says US Embassy

The US Embassy in India has said that all the non-immigrant visa interviews scheduled at the embassy in New Delhi or the US Consulate General in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad during the period June 22 to June 26 this year had been cancelled owing to the technical glitches faced by the Department of State with their visa systems across the world.

Applicants with appointments during the said period will have to reschedule their appointments for biometric enrollments and visa interview to a later date after July 6, 2015.

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



“We cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before we issue visas for travel. Each visa decision is a national security decision, and we take our obligation to protect the United States seriously,” the statement issued by the embassy, said. “We regret the inconvenience to travelers and recognise this is causing hardship to those waiting for visas, and in some cases, their family members or employers in the United States. We will continue to post regular updates on our website, travel.state.gov,” it added.

The Embassy has said that applicants can login to their visa appointment system profile and reschedule both of their appointments at www.ustraveldocs.com/in, instead of contacting the call center or customer support. Upon the restoration of visa services, the applicants would be notified via email or SMS when their passports are ready for pick up.