If you’re planning a trip to the United States that requires a visa, you may want to start the application process much earlier than before. On Saturday, September 6, the US State Department published a new rule requiring non-immigrant visa applicants—including tourists, students, and business travelers—to complete the mandatory interviews in their country of citizenship or legal residence.
Previously, travelers could book appointments in third countries with faster availability, which could help applicants circumvent backlogs in their home nations. The new rule shuts down that option.
While the update from the State Department doesn’t specify why the rule was put into place, “the most logical conclusion to draw is that this is part of the administration’s larger efforts to restrict the issuance of US visas by making the process more time-consuming and logistically difficult,” says immigration lawyer Dana DiRaimondo.
DiRaimondo added that the new rule is consistent with other measures the administration has taken this year, such as creating a Visa Bond Pilot Program and requiring enhanced vetting for certain visa types.
“The shift is really about removing shortcuts, re-establishing face-to-face checkpoints, and restricting where applicants can apply for a US visa,” immigration attorney Meesha Moulton tells Condé Nast Traveler. “This, along with the rollback of most interview waivers just a few days earlier, signals a broader tightening of the process. During the pandemic, waivers and flexible interview rules kept the system moving. Now those shortcuts are gone, and nearly everyone must interview in person again.”
Going forward, applicants who need a visa to enter the United States must appear for the interview in their country of nationality or legal residence. The Department of State has said that appointments in third countries still stand if they were scheduled before September 6.
For travelers in countries like India, Brazil, and China, where interview wait times can stretch beyond a year, the change is expected to create longer waits and more logistical hurdles for planning trips to the US. Here’s what travelers need to know.
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Who does the new rule apply to?
The policy applies to all non-immigrant visa applications—whether you’re applying for the first time, renewing, or changing status—and affects visa categories such as tourism visas (B-1/B-2), student visas (F, M, and J), and temporary work visas (H and L).
The few exceptions are for diplomats, officials on UN or NATO travel, and some humanitarian cases. It’s also worth noting that there’s no impact on travelers from Visa Waiver Program countries (which include Australia, Japan, South Korea, and most of Europe).
“The biggest pain falls on first-time visa applicants from non-Visa Waiver Countries, such as India, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and China,” says immigration attorney Juan Carlos Rivera. “Home-country queues already stretch months to 600-plus days in some markets.”
In the 17 countries where the US lacks consular services, the State Department has designated alternate locations. Cuban nationals, for example, would need to apply in Georgetown, Guyana, while Zimbabwean nationals would need to go to Johannesburg, South Africa.
Potential impact on business travel
For frequent travelers, international students, and professionals working on tight timelines, the change could create serious challenges.