By: Tito Chapman
In a move to improve customer service and streamline the US visa process, the United States (US) Embassy has announced that from August 28, it will waive visa renewal interviews in Barbados for qualified applicants.
According to a statement issued on Thursday, the Embassy said, Barbados passport holders may qualify for a visa renewal interview waiver if their previous visa expired within the past 12 months and they are applying for the same visa category as their previous visa.
However, “the applicant must be physically present in Barbados or within the consular district of the US Embassy in Bridgetown to avail themselves of this option.” In addition, “the previous US visa must be in the applicant’s possession, and the applicant must have submitted a ten-fingerprint scan in conjunction with the previous visa application.”
Similarly, students who wish to renew their visas, and who satisfy the requirements may qualify for interview waiver if they are applying to continue attendance at the same institution, or will continue the same major course of study at a different institution.
Applicants seeking to renew work-related visas who are returning to work for the same employer/company as annotated on the previous visa may also qualify while applicants under the age of 14 and over 79 will continue to qualify for interview waiver in most visa classifications.
Third country nationals must schedule an interview.
The US Embassy stressed that eligibility for interview waiver doesn’t automatically entitle applicants to a waiver of the interview requirement.
A further expansion of interview waivers in the US Embassy Bridgetown’s consular district is expected in the coming weeks.
