State Department Limits Third Country National Nonimmigrant Visa Appointments
In an announcement issued Saturday, the State Department said it would be making it more difficult for nonimmigrant visa applicants to apply for a visa at a consular post that is not located in the applicant’s country of residence or citizenship, in order to limit third-country national (TCN) nonimmigrant applications. Except in a narrow set of circumstances detailed below, nonimmigrant visa (NIV) applicants will be required to apply for their visas in their country of nationality or residence. The announcement also sets forth a list of posts to be used by applicants if there is no NIV-issuing consular post in their country of citizenship or residence.
The agency announced a similar limitation for immigrant visa appointments in late August, but TCN processing for nonimmigrant visas is more common, and therefore the change more impactful. As we have reported previously, the State Department is also in the process of limiting its NIV interview waiver program.
The State Department announcement directs nonimmigrant visa applicants to schedule their visa appointment at a post in their country of nationality or residence, though it does not appear to explicitly prohibit TCN applications. According to the announcement, however, TCN applicants may wait substantially longer for a visa appointment and may find it more difficult to qualify for a visa. Because TCN appointments are already accepted only at the discretion of the specific post, the announcement could mean additional security checks and scrutiny for TCNs, as well as increased risk of refusal.
The State Department announcement says that the agency “generally” will not cancel existing TCN appointments, but if an applicant chooses to cancel their existing appointment because of the announcement (even if rescheduling at a home-country post), the State Department will not refund or transfer any fees. In addition, there could be a delay or disruption in the visa processing associated with existing appointments. There may be a period of time in which posts hold otherwise approved TCN applications post-interview until they receive more specific guidance from the State Department headquarters on the new policy; there have already been anecdotal reports of this occurring today at at least one large U.S. consular post.
The State Department policy announcement includes an exception for A, G, NATO, C-2/3, and other diplomatic- or official-type visas and states that “rare” exceptions may be made for humanitarian, medical emergency, or foreign policy reasons. NIV applicants who qualify under these categories and exceptional circumstances should not be limited to submitting visa applications in their country of nationality or residence.
The State Department has issued a list of designated nonimmigrant visa (NIV) consular post locations for foreign nationals whose country of nationality or residence does not have an NIV-issuing consular post. Nationals of the following countries (without residence in a country with an NIV-issuing post) are directed to schedule an NIV appointment at the corresponding third-country consular post(s) listed here: Afghanistan (Islamabad, Pakistan); Belarus (Vilnius, Lithuania or Warsaw, Poland); Chad (Yaoundé, Cameroon), Cuba (Georgetown, Guyana); Haiti (Nassau, Bahamas); Iran (Dubai, UAE); Libya (Tunis, Tunisia); Niger (Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso); Russia (Astana, Kazakhstan or Warsaw, Poland); Somalia and South Sudan (Nairobi, Kenya); Sudan (Cairo, Egypt); Syria (Amman, Jordan); Ukraine (Krakow or Warsaw, Poland); Venezuela (Bogota, Colombia); Yemen (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia); Zimbabwe (Johannesburg, South Africa).
Though the State Department says it generally will not cancel existing TCN appointments, the agency announcement does say that a TCN applicant may find it harder to qualify for the visa. This could mean that the applicant may be subject to a more intensive interview and/or background check, may wait longer for their visa to be issued, or may be subject to a higher risk of visa refusal. TCN applicants attending an upcoming visa interview and their employers should be aware of this potential for additional scrutiny, delay, and uncertainty.
Pending further guidance and clarification of the scope of the new policy, absent some compelling reason for an exception, NIV applicants should schedule their NIV interviews in their country of citizenship or residence, which may require planning further in advance and with greater flexibility than in prior years.