US Embassy expands interview waiver on nonimmigrant visas

United States Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman.

United States Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman during a press briefing at the US Embassy in Nairobi.
 

Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group

The United States Embassy in Nairobi recently announced the addition of four visa categories that may be eligible for renewal without an interview.

As part of Ambassador Margaret Whitman’s pledge to reduce the nonimmigrant visa interview appointment backlog, the embassy has expanded the Interview Waiver programme for nonimmigrant visas to accommodate those applying for renewal of student visas under categories J and M, and cabin crew visas for airline staff under C1 and D.

This is in addition to the B1 and B2 tourist or business and F student categories that were already granted the exemption of waiting for an interview date for visa renewal.

The requirement for this programme is that applications must be for the same visa category and the visa should not have expired more than four years ago. The previous limit was one year as announced by the embassy in July.