 The US Delhi Embassy in India recently conducted a Facebook live in which they covered the latest updates about F1, B1, B2, H and L visas. And in this video, I'm going to be talking about all of these changes, so keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach. On this channel, you will find lots of useful videos on the US visa process. There's a separate playlist for F1 visa. There's also a separate playlist for B1, B2 visas. So make sure that you subscribe and you stay tuned. So about six months back, US Embassy Delhi had done a Facebook live, which was during the fall intake in which they covered a lot of important points. And recently, a 45 minute session was again conducted by Don Heflin, who is the Minister Councillor for Consular Affairs in India. And in this, they covered the latest updates regarding all the visa categories and also what is going to be the plan for the next few months. So the main update that they had to give was about lifting of the travel ban. So starting from November 8th, travel ban, which has been in place for the last 18 months has been lifted, which means that if you have a valid visa, you're now eligible to travel to the US. I've spoken more about this in my last video, so you can check that out. Apart from this update, there were also more updates regarding appointment booking and regarding how the visa schedule is going to look like in the upcoming months. So this is exactly what I'm going to be talking about in this video. So I've divided all these updates into three different categories and let's jump right into it. So the first category we'll talk about are the F1 visas. So what they mentioned is that November and December are the two months in which they're going to be focusing mainly on processing of all F1 visas for students who are going for the Spring 22 intake. They're not going to be any bulk slots which are going to be released like what they did for the Fall intake. But every day, regular slots are going to be released. So in the coming few days or coming few weeks, I think it will definitely become easier for you to find a visa appointment. They also did highlight the time. So there is no need for you to check early morning or late nights. They mentioned specifically that usually these slots are released across all the consulates in India around 9 to 10 a.m. in the morning. So I think this is also the ideal time when you should be logging to the systems and trying to book an appointment. The second highlight which they covered was about the location. So ideally they would prefer people to go for interviews in the consulate which is closest to their hometown or to their home location. But if for some reason you're not able to get the slot there, you are free to book an appointment across India. So many of you have this doubt whether it is okay for you to book an appointment in a location which is not close to your hometown and this has been specifically cleared for them. So keep your location flexible and wherever you are able to get a visa appointment, just go for that. And the third update was regarding the vaccination status for students. So during the fall intake, they did not have the requirement that students need to be fully vaccinated. You could reach the US and then get yourself vaccinated. That has been done away with now and even if you are a student, you would need to be fully vaccinated. That means you need to have two doses of either Covishield or Covaxing, both of which has been approved now and it should be at least two weeks since your second dose. So being fully vaccinated is now mandatory even for all these students. So if you are applying for your F1 visa interview in the next two months, I have a lot of useful resources for you. You can join the next F1 workshop. The link for this is in the description box below. You can also get in touch with me for a one-to-one consultation session or a mock interview session. The second category that I want to talk about are the B1, B2 visas. I know that a lot of you have been very patiently and eagerly waiting to book your B1, B2 visa appointment and now we have a definite timeline, a definite confirmation from them as to when these appointments will be available. So basically November and December are the two months in which they are going to prioritize the student visas and some H and L visas. So getting a B1, B2 appointment in November, December looks almost impossible. However, Jan onwards is when B1, B2 appointments are going to be available and these appointments are going to open up November end or sometime in December which means that from November end to December you should be able to book your B1, B2 appointment for either January, February or March months. So this is an important update and this should give you some direction as to what are the timelines you can expect in getting your B1, B2 visa. Another update that they mentioned was about the late 2022 appointments. So right now if you look at the system, there are some appointments which are available for end of 2022 like October, November and I think some of you have even booked those appointments. Now what they clarified was that these appointments are actually meant just for the purpose of getting an emergency visa. So you might be aware that to get an emergency visa, you need to first have a normal appointment. It can be of any date and then you can expedite that appointment if your emergency visa request is approved. So those late 2022 appointments are just as placeholders for people to get an emergency appointment. So don't go ahead and book those dates because eventually these will get cancelled. So if you are looking for a B1, B2 appointment, just look for appointments in the month of Jan, Fed and March. Another update that they covered was about Dropbox appointments. So again starting from January, Dropbox appointments will become more frequent and will be easily available and they have also extended the time period for eligibility of Dropbox. So if your B1, B2 visa has expired in the last four years, you will be eligible to apply for a Dropbox appointment and there is no need for you to come for an in-person visa interview. Another update that was covered was regarding 221G scenario. So a lot of you messaged me and DME saying that your interview or rather your visa application is stuck under admin processing or 221G and what is it that you can do about it. Now they clarified that they in fact have a good number of applications which are under the 221G scenario and which are waiting to be processed and once the crunch of the student interviews is over they will start allocating resources to process these applications. So in the coming few weeks you can expect to receive some update regarding your application if it is under 221G. It will either be in the form of an email which will be sent to you or it will be an update put on the embassy website. So make sure that you keep a close watch on both of these things. And if you're planning to apply for a B1, B2 visa, I have an exclusive workshop coming up on 20th November and this workshop is designed to help you get ready for your B1, B2 process and to get everything in place before you you know book your appointment and get that visa. So if you're interested in attending the workshop, I'm going to put the link for this in the description box below. Make sure to check it out. And the third category which I want to cover in this video are all the travel related guidelines. So if you're planning your travel to the US in the next few months, these are the important guidelines that you need to keep in mind. The first one is of course being fully vaccinated, right? So you need to be fully vaccinated, two doses of vaccine and two weeks since the second dose. So the new update in this is that even Covishield has been approved for emergency use. So earlier it was only Covaxin but now I think in the last few last one week they have given approval for even Covishield. So both the vaccines are good to go, you just need to be fully vaccinated and two weeks since your second dose. The second update is that there is no need for quarantine. So if you land in the US, there are no quarantine requirements for you. All you need is a negative COVID test. So this test is mandatory for both boarding the flight and also for clearing the immigration. Children also need to have a negative COVID test. So even if they're not vaccinated, a negative COVID test is mandatory. So make sure that you get it done for them as well. And the last update is that there is no need for national interest exemption anymore. A lot of you have a doubt that do I need to apply for an NIE, you know, if I want to travel to the US? Since the travel ban has been lifted, NIE has been completely done away with. So there is no need for you to apply separately for a national interest exemption. And lastly update about H and L visas. So November and December, we are seeing that quite a few appointments are actually being given for H and L visas availability of these appointments will just increase in the coming few weeks. So if you are waiting to get your H or L visa and waiting for an appointment and this wait will surely come to an end. So guys, these are all the important updates that were covered in the Facebook live. I hope this has helped you to come up to date with what is the current scenario of US visas in India. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave a comment in the description box below. Also, if you're looking for help with any of the non-immigrant visas to the US, be it F1, F2, H, L or B1, B2, please feel free to get in touch with me. You can DM me on Instagram. My Instagram handle is at shachi.mall. In the description box, there are also tons of free resources and free downloads. So make sure to check all of them out. And yes, signing off for now. I'll see you in the next one. Lots of useful videos coming up on this channel, especially for those of you appearing for the Spring 2022 interview. So stay tuned. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.