Washington: Amid growing concerns of surging COVID-19 cases, the US has announced that it will waive the in-person interview requirement for a range of visa applicants during the entire year in 2022, including for H-1B workers and students, many of whom are from India.The Department of State announced that consular officers are now temporarily authorised, through December 31, 2022, to waive in-person interviews for certain individual petition-based nonimmigrant work visas and their qualifying derivatives in the following categories: Persons in Specialty Occupations (H-1B visas), Trainee or Special Education Visitors (H-3 visas), Intracompany Transferees (L visas), Individuals with Extraordinary Ability or Achievement (O visas), Athletes, Artists, and Entertainers (P visas), and Participants in International Cultural Exchange Programmes (Q visas).
Additionally, the Secretary of State has extended consular officers’ current ability to waive the in-person interview, through December 31, 2022, for the following other categories of nonimmigrant visas: Temporary Agricultural and Non-agricultural Workers (H-2 visas), Students (F and M visas), and Student Exchange Visitors (Academic J visas), the press release said. Embassies and consulates may still require an in-person interview on a case-by-case basis and dependent upon local conditions. Applicants should check embassy and consulate websites for more detailed information about this development, as well as current operating status and services, it said.
Meanwhile, Britain said on Friday it would offer visas for care workers for a 12 month period after the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated staff shortages within the social care sector.
The temporary measures were expected to come into effect early next year and would be in place for a minimum of 12 months, the government said. The minimum annual salary to qualify for the visa will be 20,480 pounds ($27,445). ($1 = 0.7462 pounds).