Entry is suspended, per Presidential Proclamation, of non-LPR foreign nationals who were present in the People’s Republic of China, not including the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the 26 countries that comprise the Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, excluding overseas territories outside of Europe, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the Republic of Ireland within 14 days prior to their arrival at the port of entry in the United States. 

If you reside in, have traveled recently to, or intend to transit or travel to China, Iran, the Schengen Area (which includes Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland), the United Kingdom, excluding overseas territories outside of Europe, or Republic of Ireland prior to your planned trip to the United States, do not send your passport to the Embassy.  If you have been outside China, the Schengen Zone, Iran, the United Kingdom for at least 14 consecutive days, and you do not intend to return to one of those countries prior to your planned trip to the United States, you may send your passport to the Embassy.  When you send your passport, please include your planned travel itinerary.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR STUDENT AND EXCHANGE VISITOR VISA APPLICANTS: We do not accept late arrival letters. If your program start date has already passed, in accordance with U.S. law, you must provide an updated I-20 form OR have your SEVIS updated to reflect that you have a current program start date that is in the future, or SEVIS annotation under Remarks section that late arrival is permitted. If you defer to a later program start date, please inform the Embassy.

J visas may be issued at any time prior to a program start date, but F visas may not be issued more than 120 days prior to a program start date. F and J visas are valid for U.S. entry no earlier than 30 days prior to the program start date.

Student and exchange visitor (F and J visa) applicants should notify us of any changes to their program start date, school, field of study, or SEVIS number before returning their passport to us for issuance. If the embassy has not been notified of this information, student visas may be printed with errors. Misprinted student visas will not be reprinted.

Family members of principal applicants will not be issued a visa before the principal applicant’s visa is issued. For example: F2, J2, L2 and H4 visas will not be issued until the respective F1, J1, L1 and H1B visas have been issued.

The date stated here, next to your case number, is not a new appointment date. It is the expiration date of your Administrative Processing. Failure to submit your passport/documents prior to that date will result in significant delays in your visa issuance. We strongly advise you to send your passport/documents to our office at your very earliest convenience after your case number is announced here.