Note: The most recent updates are shown in bold type.

Processing Times in London

Applicants for nonimmigrant visas in routine cases, where neither a waiver nor a Special Advisory Opinion is required, are currently receiving their newly visaed passports within 3 to 5 working days after their interviews with a consular officer. Applicants requiring waivers of ineligibility for nonimmigrant visas, when recommended by a consular officer and approved by the Department of Homeland Security, are currently receiving their visas within 8 to 16 weeks after their consular interviews.

The US Customs and Border Protection component of the Department of Homeland Security no longer maintains an office in London. Upon the recommendation of a consular officer or by the Secretary of State all applications for nonimmigrant waivers are now determined by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States. Waivers for immigrant visas continue to be determined by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Officer-in-Charge in London.

Applicants for immigrant visas in routine cases should receive their newly visaed passports within 1 to 3 working days after their interviews with a consular officer. Applicants for waivers of ineligibility for immigrant visas can expect a decision on their waiver applications in approximately 10 to 16 weeks after filing their waiver application.

Expedited nonimmigrant visa interviews, when granted for O, P, I and C-1/D visa applicants, are scheduled for 8:00 am, Monday through Friday. Emergency appointments for nonimmigrant visa interviews, when granted for other applicants, are scheduled for 9:15 am, Monday through Friday. It usually takes 2 to 5 working days to schedule an expedited visa appointment. For routine applications visaed passports are normally returned to the applicants in 1 to 3 working days.

Nonimmigrant visa applicants are now subject to a new requirement: In order to ensure the quality of the (index) finger scans taken at the time of the interview, applications of persons with cuts or blisters on their index fingers will not be processed.

All appointments for ‘E’ visa interviews are scheduled for 9:15 am. Interview appointments for all other nonimmigrant visas are scheduled for Monday through Fri`ay, 9:00 am to 2:15 pm.

The Treaty Visa Office at the London Embassy is currently taking between 8 and 14 weeks to determine applications for registration and re-registration as E-1 treaty traders or E-2 treaty investors. Consular interviews for individual E visa applicants can typically be obtained within 2 to 3 weeks from the date of request. Visaed passports are currently being returned within 1 to 3 days after the interview.

London DHS is currently taking approximately 12 weeks to adjudicate those I-130 petitions that it accepts for processing. In order to be considered for processing in London the petition must be for an immediate relative, and the US citizen petitioner must be residing in the United Kingdom.

Helpful Hints for Frequent Filers

The Treaty Visa Office no longer accepts the DS-156, DS-157 and DS-156E Part III forms for filing with an entity’s application for E-1 or E-2 registration or re-registration. Those forms, with the prepaid visa application fee receipt attached to the DS-156, are to be submitted only after the registration application has been approved and the individual investor/owner or employee is applying for the treaty visa.

Immigrant visa applicants currently outside the United Kingdom may obtain their UK police clearances through the post, without the need to visit a UK police station in person. The applicant should apply on Form 3019B available for download through our Useful Links section. Although the form states that it is only for London residents, the Metropolitan Police will in fact process requests from persons who although currently living outside the UK, have previously lived anywhere in the UK.

The London Embassy strongly urges all applicants to use the electronic version of the nonimmigrant visa application form DS-156, which can be accessed through our Useful Links page. Applicants for E visas must submit the electronic version of the DS-156; the Treaty Visa Officer no longer accepts any other version.

News

The Department of State has announced that registration for the 2007 Diversity Visa Lottery (also known as ‘the green card lottery’) will begin on October 5, 2005. Persons seeking to enter the lottery programme must submit applications online through the designated website during the registration period. For information about the 2007 lottery, please click here.

Pursuant to bilateral treaty E-3 visas are now available to otherwise eligible citizens of Australia who seek to enter the United States to perform services in a specialty occupation. ‘Specialty occupation’ is defined as one which for entry requires a US baccalaureate degree or equivalent in a field related to the occupation. For further information regarding the new E-3 visa, click here.

On August 12, 2005 the US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that it had received enough H-1B petitions to meet the congressionally-mandated cap for fiscal year 2006. Petitions subject to the FY 2006 cap and received after August 10, 2005 will be rejected. As of April 1, 2006, prospective employers may file petitions requesting first-time authorization of H-1B status for the next fiscal year, employment to begin on or after October 1, 2006.

New passports issued by Visa Waiver Program countries on or after October 26, 2005 must include a digital photo or the traveller will be required to obtain a visa for travel to the United States. Travellers who are otherwise eligible for the Visa Waiver Program and who have valid machine-readable passports issued before October 26, 2005 may continue to travel without a visa.

The London Embassy has changed its procedure regarding the medical examination required for immigrant visa applicants. The Embassy no longer books the examination and schedules it for the same day as the immigrant visa interview. Applicants must book their own appointments and ensure that the results of the medical tests are available by the time of the immigrant visa interview. Appointments are scheduled by calling from within the UK 01243-832198, Monday - Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The medical examination is now held at the Nuffield Hospital either in Central London, Birmingham or Edinburgh, Scotland. The cost for the medical examination is £179 for applicants aged 15 and over and £82 if under the age of 15. Payment by credit card (not American Express or Diners), Switch Debit card or by personal cheque must be made when scheduling. The Embassy advises that applicants are provided with the results of their tests within 48 hours.

All travellers from Visa Waiver Program countries, regardless of age, must present at a US port of entry an individual machine-readable, tamper-resistant passport issued on or before October 25, 2005. Passports issued on or after that date must contain a digital photograph or the traveler will be required to obtain a visa. The countries included in the Visa Waiver Program are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.