US State Department: Afghan visa interview location will be determined based on current residence.
The US State Department has announced that starting November 1, Afghan immigrant visa interviews will be based on applicants’ current residence.
This decision does not apply to Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants and only applies to other applicants.
Under the change, Afghans living in countries with US consular services will be interviewed in the same country.
But people living in countries without a US consulate, such as Afghanistan and Iran, are referred to a specific center in a third country for an interview.
Also, requests to change the location of the interview are only accepted through the National Visa Center (NVC) online form, with exceptions only in humanitarian, health or foreign policy considerations.
In response to the decision, Afghan Evac warned that the change could create new challenges for Afghan refugees.
However, the organization has stressed that it will continue to support fair, effective and humane processes for dealing with Afghan cases.
