The US is changing the visa service platform and will affect applicants from these countries

Unprofitable

August 23, 2024, 1:10 pm

The US will change its visa service platform, which will affect application processes, particularly from Central America and the Caribbean.

By cnn

Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guatemala and El Xavier will not have a visa appointment schedule for 10 days (September 13 to 22), a State Department spokesperson told CNN.

“During this period, applicants cannot schedule or change visa appointments or pay visa fees. Applicants must schedule or reschedule all appointments as needed by September 13. During this period, embassies will remain open and all visa interview appointments already scheduled will remain valid,” he said in an email. “These are changes they are making around the world to better serve applicants and improve overall. experience.”

The U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica recommends paying attention to the instructions for first-time visa applicants and those who need to visit the embassy for an in-person appointment.

The diplomatic corps’ press office told CNN that the change will affect 200 U.S. embassies around the world. Some in Europe have already done this, he said, and others will do so gradually. For example, for El Salvador, the process will be the same as for Costa Rican, on which date the new platform will be operational.

According to the US representative’s statement, those who had a visa appointment before September 12 will not be affected by the changes and can review appointment details or contact customer service by logging into the account they created at ustraveldocs.com.

The bulletin highlights that those with appointments scheduled between September 13 and 20 this year will notice that they no longer have access to the account they set up on ustraveldocs.com. Those 10 days, or contact customer service. You have to print and show the appointment confirmation letter before 13th September.

For those with an appointment on or after September 23, you should enter the US Embassy website from then on to get updated information.

According to John Wilcock, Consul General in Costa Rica, those who have already paid but have not scheduled an interview appointment should do so as soon as possible. He emphasized that it is important to log into the profile they have created and make the payment with the receipt number before September 4 this year to avoid “delays or problems”.

Read more cnn