Be ready for two appointments to get a US visa

Applicants will have to seek separate appointments, either online or by phone, from the US embassy or Consulate as per the new system, Josh Glazeroff, Consul General of US Embassy in India said here today.

The biometric collection will be done at an Offsite Facilitation Centre (OFC) while the interview will be held at the US Embassy or consulate, Glazeroff said.

Once the finger prints are given, processing of visa application will be completed within 30-40 minutes the next day, he said, asserting that taking of finger-prints will be once in a lifetime process.

"We take visa related questions from 11 am to 1 pm every Friday during our 'Visa Fridays' Facebook chat," he said, talking about the new visa processing system introduced by the USA.

Glazeroff asserted that the process for obtaining a visa will become easier with introduction of the facility to pay fee online or through mobile phone.

Rejecting the contention that there had been a fall in granting of visas during the recession period between 2008-09, Glazeroff said around 6.5 lakh Indians visited USA last year whereas one million US citizens visited India.

Glazeroff said that the fee for the business visa is 160 US dollars and that of working visa is 190 US dollars.