Continued delay in visa operations at U.S. embassy and consulates

The processing of visas at the U.S. Department of State continues to experience technical problems.

This is a global issue, and the Department of State is 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,' U.S. Counsel stated.

Unfortunately, this has caused a serious delay in operations.

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

The visa applicants with appointments during that same period are requested to reschedule their appointments for biometric enrollment and visa interview to a date after July 6.

Contacting the call center or customer support will not be required.

One can simply login to one's visa appointment system profile and reschedule both the appointments at www.ustraveldocs.com/in.

The restoration of visa services will be notified via email or SMS when one's passport is ready for pick up and once the SMS has been received one may go to one's Visa Application Center any day between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to collect one's passport. One can also track the status online by visiting one's website which is http://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-loc-passportcollection.asp.

If one has other urgent upcoming travels requiring one to have one's passport back, one will place one's case on 'Administrative Hold' and contact support-India@ustraveldocs.com to request one's passport back.

The problems stemmed from a hardware failure in a State Department facility in the United States on June 9.

That failure has been preventing the State Department from processing and transmitting biometric data checks at visa-issuing embassies and consulates.

They cannot bypass the legal requirements to screen visa applicants before issuing visas for travel.

Each visa decision is a national security decision, and the State Department takes the obligation to protect the United States seriously.

The Department regrets the inconvenience to travelers and the hardship caused to those waiting for visas.

The Department said it will continue to post regular updates on our website,travel.state.gov.