Amid an unprecedented backlog of visa applications, the US Embassy in Dhaka has initiated some measures, including interview waiver for some categories, to reduce the wait time.
Presently, an applicant for the non-immigrant US visa has to wait a minimum of 10 months to get the appointment for visa interview.
"We are making special efforts to conduct interviews of visa applicants as many as possible. Over the last six months, our consular staff members have worked weekends and have interviewed non-immigrant visa applicants on special work days, which we call super Friday," Consul General of the US Embassy in Dhaka Nathan Flook told a media briefing on Wednesday.
"During these super Fridays, we have interviewed over 3,400 non immigrant visa applicants, including students and tourists, and almost 600 immigrant visa applicants," he added.
He pointed out that the US Department of State has waived in-person interviews for several key visa categories, including for many students.
Consular Officers now have the discretion to waive the interview requirement for student visa applicants if the student was previously issued any type of visa and they meet certain criteria.
"In addition, applicants renewing non-immigrant visas in the same classification within 48 months of the expiration of the previous visa are eligible to apply for another visa without an interview," he explained, adding that this approach had already reduced the wait times for an interview appointment at many embassies and consulates.
However, the consul general made it clear that visa consultants, commonly referred to as visa brokers, cannot guarantee visas though they take additional charge.
"Some non-immigrant visa applicants turn to visa consultants before scheduling their visa interviews. The visa consultant is not necessary and I want to say that again, a visa consultant is not necessary to obtain a visa interview appointment."
Visa brokers often charge additional fees and provide inappropriate advice, like creating a fake document, he said, adding that the best guidance for prospective visa applicants is to review the information on the embassy website.
"We caution prospective applicants that presentation of false information or false documents may not only be a reason for a rejection of their visa application, but it could also become ineligibility to the United States in the future".
About the appointment procedure, the consul general said, "Though some applicants do use a travel agency or consultant to book a non-immigrant visa appointment, there's no requirement to do so."
"You can book appointments directly on our website. There is no additional cost to make an appointment because it's already included in the visa application fee."
Talking about student visas, he mentioned that the US Embassy in Dhaka issued over 7,400 F-1 student visas in 2022. The figure is higher than any other year in the past decade.
"We will continue to try to prioritise interviews for as many qualified students as possible while also working to reduce the wait times for other visa categories such as the B1 or B2 tourist and business visa," he said.
He said that the embassy's priority will be to facilitate as many appointments as possible for first-time student visa applicants