USCIS implemented this change as part of the launch of its online immigration benefits system, USCIS Electronic Immigration System, as it transforms the agency from a paper-based system to an online environment. ( USCIS Electronic Immigration System )

Although placing an admission stamp on Forms I-20/DS-2019 has been a longstanding practice at CBP, it is not required. While the admission stamps on Forms I-20/DS-2019 are not indicators of lawful status or academic program duration, some state and federal benefit granting agencies have required international students and scholars to present stamped versions. State requirements vary.

If a state benefit granting agency rejects an unstamped Form I-20/DS-2019, applicants may make an appointment with USCIS online through InfoPass and take their Form I-20/DS-2019 to their local USCIS office to be stamped. ( InfoPass ) This transitional step will end on Nov. 21, 2012.

As of Aug. 10, 2012, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) no longer provides admission stamps on Forms I-20/DS-2019 for prospective and returning international students and scholars (traveling with F, M, and J visas) seeking admission to the United States. This change makes CBP processes consistent with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS) recent change to stop stamping Forms I-20/DS-2019.

USCIS implemented this change as part of the launch of its online immigration benefits system, USCIS Electronic Immigration System, as it transforms the agency from a paper-based system to an online environment. ( USCIS Electronic Immigration System )

Although placing an admission stamp on Forms I-20/DS-2019 has been a longstanding practice at CBP, it is not required. While the admission stamps on Forms I-20/DS-2019 are not indicators of lawful status or academic program duration, some state and federal benefit granting agencies have required international students and scholars to present stamped versions. State requirements vary.

If a state benefit granting agency rejects an unstamped Form I-20/DS-2019, applicants may make an appointment with USCIS online through InfoPass and take their Form I-20/DS-2019 to their local USCIS office to be stamped. ( InfoPass ) This transitional step will end on Nov. 21, 2012.

For the first time, applicants will be able to schedule their appointments online or by phone.  The new system will also allow companies and travel agents to purchase multiple fee receipts for group travel, and it accommodates the scheduling of group and emergency appointments.

Visa applicants will be able to have their questions answered via telephone, email, or online chat.  Call center agents in Noida and Hyderabad will answer questions in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu.  Call centers will be open 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday through Friday, and 9:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday.  The numbers are (91-120) 660-2222 or (91-22) 6720-9400 in India or 1-310-616-5424 in the United States.  Applicants can email in English or Hindi at support-india@ustraveldocs.com, or they can chat with us directly from our website (www.ustraveldocs.com/in) during call center hours.

One important change is that under the new system, applicants will have to make two appointments.  Prior to their visa interviews, applicants will have to visit an Offsite Facilitation Center (OFC) to submit their fingerprints and a photo.  Located apart from the Embassy and Consulates in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai, the OFCs will reduce congestion at U.S. consular facilities and speed applicant processing.  Most applicants will need to visit an OFC only once.

In March, the U.S. Mission in India introduced the Interview Waiver Program (IWP) that allows applicants who meet certain criteria to be considered for waivers of personal interviews.  Under the IWP and our new processing system, an increasing number of applicants will be able to complete all visa requirements without having to visit a U.S. Embassy or Consulate at all.

The U.S. Department of State continually strives to improve consular services to meet increased visa demand in India.  In 2011, consular officers in India processed nearly seven lakh nonimmigrant visa applications, an increase of more than 11 percent over the previous year.  Presently, applicants wait fewer than ten days for visa interview appointments and spend less than one hour at U.S. consular facilities in India.

For information about the visa application process, please visit http://www.ustraveldocs.com/.  To receive regular updates, follow the U.S. Embassy on Facebook at www.facebook.com/India.usembassy.

AS PREPARED

Remarks By Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs Julia Stanley

Press Event:  New Visa Processing System for India

September 5, 2012

• Namaste and good afternoon.  Thank you for joining us today, and thank you to our team from Stanley.
• The United States is committed to providing all visa applicants with an efficient, transparent, and standardized application process.
• Worldwide, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs is instituting significant changes to the visa application process under the Global Support Strategy program.  This program will be implemented in India on September 26.
• It is our goal to make our visa process as efficient as possible to meet the increased demand for U.S. visas worldwide.  In March, we launched the Interview Waiver Program in India, which allows certain qualified applicants to renew their visas without coming in for an interview.
• Today, it is my pleasure to introduce a new visa processing system that will streamline appointment scheduling, simplify fee payments, and provide new delivery options.
• First, we would like to introduce our brand new website, available in English and Hindi, that will answer all your questions about how to apply for a U.S. visa.  Through the website, visa applicants will be able to fill out application forms, find out what documents are required, pay visa application fees, schedule an appointment for biometrics collection, and schedule an interview at a U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  You can access the website at www.ustraveldocs.com/in.
• Applicants can also contact us via telephone, email, or online chat.  Our call center agents can answer questions in Hindi, English, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Telugu.  There are no fees for calling the call center.
• Under our new system, we have more payment options available.  Applicants will have the option of paying their visa application fees by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or with a mobile phone.  They will also be able to pay in cash at over 1,800 Axis and Citibank branches.  The new system allows for bulk purchases of fee receipts, an important benefit for companies and travel agents.  Within one hour of payment, applicants will receive an SMS message letting them know that their receipt has been activated, and they can proceed with scheduling their appointments.
• Appointments can be scheduled through our new website or by calling the call center.  We are offering appointments by phone for the first time.  The new global appointment scheduling system will offer group and expedited appointments.
• One important difference from our current system is that first-time applicants will need to schedule two appointments; one for fingerprint collection, and one for a consular interview.  Fingerprints will be collected at an Offsite Facilitation Center (OFC) prior to the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.
• For many first-time applicants, this will mean two appointments on two separate days.  We are working to shorten this to one day, but at this point, we cannot say with certainty when that will happen.
• The OFCs will be located in convenient locations separate from the Embassy or Consulates to reduce congestion and to speed applicant processing.
• The good news is that most applicants will only need to submit their fingerprints at the OFC one time.  Applicants who are renewing their visas will probably be able to skip this step.  Over time, we expect the number of applicants who do not need to visit our premises to grow markedly.
• Our processing improvements also affect the delivery of documents.  Under our new system, passports, visas, immigrant visa packets and other documents will be delivered to 33 document pick-up locations across India within a week at no charge.  Applicants will be asked to choose a delivery location when they schedule their appointments.  Using our website, they can track the progress of their visa application.  When their documents are ready for pick-up, they will be notified via email and/or SMS.
• Of course, some things won’t change.  Our visa application fees will remain the same worldwide; an American consular officer will still conduct the interview at the Embassy or Consulate; and our adjudication standards have not changed.  Applicants must still meet the requirements for the appropriate visa class, whether they are traveling as tourists, business people, or students.  We will continue to issue 10-year, multiple-entry visas to all those who qualify.
• We are committed to an efficient visa process for all visa applicants worldwide.  Presently, visa applicants in India wait fewer than ten days for their appointments, spend less than one hour at our consular facilities, and typically have their visas in hand within a week of their interviews.
• We expect that our new system will further increase the efficiency and transparency of our visa processing, standardizing the process for all visa applicants worldwide.  We expect that fewer applicants will need to visit our OFCs, Embassy and Consulates to renew their visas in the future.
• As the U.S.-India relationship continues to grow, we look forward to supporting and strengthening the people-to-people ties between our two countries by facilitating travel with secure and efficient visa processing.

Thank you.

Thanks to the agreement, three-year, multiple-entry visas will become the standard “default” terms for U.S. citizens visiting Russia and Russian citizens visiting the United States. No formal invitation will be required to apply for a business or tourism visa, although applicants seeking Russian tourist visas must continue to hold advance lodging reservations and arrangements with a tour operator. Both sides have also committed to keep standard visa processing times under 15 days, although the circumstances of individual cases may require additional processing.

Also on September 9, the $100 issuance – or reciprocity – fee for Russians issued U.S. visas for business or tourism (visa types B1/B2) will fall to $20. As a rule, successful visa applicants will receive the full-validity three-year visa. The $160 application fee will still apply, and validity and fees for other visa types (for example for students, workers, and journalists) will not change.

For Americans in Russia, the agreement lifts the previous restriction limiting stays in Russia to 90 days within any given 180-day period—just like Russian travelers, they will now be permitted stays of up to six months. In addition, “exit visas” will no longer be necessary in the case of U.S. citizens who lose their passports while in Russia. (Russian citizens may already exit the United States without an exit visa).

Fitting a business plan into a regulatory framework is something every foreign investor hopes he never has to do. But fit it one must if the investment goal includes obtaining an E-2 visa.

One of the key requirements imposed on the E-2 visa applicant is to show that he or she has invested or is in the process of investing a “substantial” amount of capital into a commercial (profit-generating) enterprise.

The idea here is to show that investors are “unquestionably committed to the success of the business” and to ensure that “the business invested in is not speculative but is, or soon will be, a successful enterprise.”  In other words, that the investor has skin in the game and is committing enough money to get the business off the ground.

This would be a fairly straightforward requirement and not a bit unreasonable if the government told potential investors what amount it deemed “substantial,” say for example $200,000. It does not. Instead, a consular officer stationed at a U.S. embassy or consulate thousands of miles away is charged with the responsibility to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether the invested amount is substantial.

Needless to say, neither the extent to which a consular officer is familiar with the business environment in a particular location in the U.S., nor his or her business savvy can be presumed. This opens the door to misunderstandings, or to put it bluntly, unreasonable denials of visa applications.

In general, in order to prevail, an investor must pass two (2) tests: First, he must show that the amount to be invested is substantial in relation to the type of enterprise he is purchasing or establishing. It is understood that a manufacturing facility would require much more capital in order to become viable (machinery and equipment, assembly lines, production floor, storage facilities, etc.) than a consulting business or a graphic design studio (a rented office space and laptops). Thus, where a $50,000 investment may be sufficient in one instance, a $1,000,000 investment may fall short in another.

Second is the “proportionality test.”  This test is a comparison between two (2) figures: the amount of funds actually invested and the value of the enterprise (the amount required to purchase an existing enterprise or establish a new one). As usual, no particular figures are contained within the regulations. In practice, a $100,000 investment must be fully funded by the investor in order to support the E-2 visa application, whereas a $10,000,000 investment could be 10% funded and still support the E-2 application. Everything in between is open to interpretation.

Effective December 1, 2011 all E Visa application packets must be mailed or couriered to the Rome Consular Section at the following address: E Visa Processing
c/o Non-Immigrant Visa Unit Consular Section U.S. Embassy Rome via V. Veneto, 121 00187 Roma.

International education grew by nearly 9 percent during the 2010/11 academic year, and foreign students studying in the United States brought $21.3 billion into the domestic economy. Most importantly, educational exchanges foster mutual understanding, respect, and goodwill between Americans and people around the world.