On July 25, 2025 The U.S. Department of State confirmed changes to its policies on the Waiver of Nonimmigrant Visa Interviews, including eligibility criteria. These changes are going into effect as of September 2, 2025 and apply across U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
Effective September 2, 2025 all nonimmigrant visa applicants, including applicants under the age of 14 and over the age of 79, will generally be required to attend an in-person interview with a consular officer.
A waiver of the nonimmigrant visa interview is now only available to applicants who are renewing a full validity B-1, B-2, B1/B2 visa or a Border Crossing Card/Foil (for Mexican nationals), within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration, and who were at least 18 years when the previous visa was issued. These applicants must also apply for an interview waiver in their country of nationality or residence, and have no prior visa refusals and no apparent or potential ineligibility issues. Consular officers may still require in-person interviews on a case-by-case basis for any reason. The elimination of the waiver of visa interviews will likely lead to a backlog in appointments at many consulates around the world. For more information, please refer to the Department of State website. Vialto will continue to monitor the impact of this policy change and provide further updates once they are available.
For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or
alternatively:
Manish Daftari
Partner
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