Flickr Creative Commons Attribution Jeroen Akkermans In the last months, the U.S. Department of State released two significant policy updates that impact both immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants. These updates focus on a core change: applicants will now be required to have their visa interviews in their place of residence…
On June 4, 2025, President Trump continued his ongoing assault on Harvard University with a new Executive Order entitled, “Enhancing National Security by Addressing Risks at Harvard University.” Effective June 4th, the order suspends the entry of all nonimmigrants and exchange visitors bound for Harvard University for a period of…
After months of speculation and buildup, President Trump’s long-anticipated travel ban has finally arrived. Issued by executive order on June 4th President Trump’s travel ban entitled “Restricting the Entry of Foreign Nationals to Protect the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” closely mirrors…
On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) announced new changes to the Visa Interview Waiver program, further adding to the unpredictability of the Trump administration. Among these changes, the State Department has limited the categories of non-immigrants who are eligible to receive waivers of the in-person interview…
We start the week with the unfortunate news that hundreds of visa applicants were turned away at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, following a political dispute between President Donald Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Tensions between the two heads of state came to a head on Sunday after…
We are excited to report that Qatar will soon be joining the Visa Waiver Program, which permits citizens of 41 countries to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa. Qatar’s designation was announced on September 24th by…
On May 13, 2024, the State Department announced record breaking milestones including the issuance of a whopping 5.2 million nonimmigrant visas at U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide in the first half of fiscal year 2024 – more than any previous year over the same period. In the past six months…
The past year saw big victories for worldwide visa operations. The Department of State recently provided statistics summarizing its visa processing capacity in the year 2023. The recent data shows tremendous advancement in visa processing capacity at Consular posts globally and provides a strong outlook for visa processing in the…
In the nick of time, on December 21, 2023, the Department of State announced that it will continue its interview waiver policy for certain nonimmigrant visa applicants. The agency’s interview waiver policy was previously set to expire on December 31, 2023. However, its implementation will continue starting on January 1,…
The rumors are true. For the first time in nearly two decades, the Department of State (DOS) will process domestic visa renewals for certain H-1B visa applicants without requiring them to leave the United States. This is all part of a new pilot program starting January 29, 2024, through April…