 The current status of F1 visas in India and the next steps that you need to take, keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi. I'm a travel and a visa coach. On this channel, you will find tons of useful videos on the US visa process. Make sure to check them out. So with the COVID cases in India rising rapidly, there have been a lot of new developments with respect to the US visas and in particular, the F1, the student visa. So in this video, I want to bring you up to date with the recent developments, tell you the current status and also give you some tips and pointers on how you can stay prepared and the next steps that you need to take. Let's get started. So let's start with the updates. Now the first and most important update is that the US embassies in India have closed temporarily till May 15th. Now from the last week of April, I think they started cancelling all visa appointments. Some embassies started shutting and finally they issued a statement that their embassies are going to be closed till May 15th. This is because of, of course, the rising COVID cases in India and because of the lockdown that is currently in place in most of the states in India. So a lot of you I know have got your visa appointments cancelled. A lot of appointments have been deferred. I've been getting messages, screenshots from people saying that their visa appointments are cancelled. Well know that you're not alone. This is happening to everybody and the silver lining in all of this is that F1 visas will be given a priority embassies have issued a statement saying that they will give priority to F1 visas and try and honour these visa appointments as soon as possible. Emergency appointments are also being given in exceptional cases. So if you feel that you might have to avail an emergency appointment or you qualify for one, you can check that as well. Drop a mail to their support ID. The support ID is support-india at USAtraveldogs.com. That's support-india at USAtraveldogs.com. So in case you have any other query or you want to find out about emergency appointments, you can drop a mail to this ID. The second update is regarding the travel ban. So US has banned travellers from India from May 4th. That means that no Indian is allowed to travel from India to the US starting from May 4th. But the silver lining here is that this ban does not include students. So under the national interest exemption scheme, students who are planning to travel to the US to start their colleges, to start the universities for the fall semester that is starting from August are exempted from this ban. That means that if you have got an admission for your fall semester starting from August, then you need not worry about this ban. You are totally exempted from this. So a lot of new developments happening every single day and all the developments we'll be bringing right here on this channel. So do subscribe, stay tuned for all the updates. Either it'll be up on a video form or it'll be on the community tab of the channel. So just keep a close watch on both of these things. So now that we have the updates, let's talk about the next steps that you need to take right now. The first thing that I want to tell you is that do not stress, stay calm. I know that visa appointments getting cancelled is not the ideal way to go about this process. And in a current pandemic situation with so much uncertainty, it can definitely add a lot of stress to your life. But remember that you're not alone. This has happened to everybody. And also remember that you're still early in the process. It is still May. Colleges are due to start in August, which means that you still have two to three months to get your visa sorted and you know to plan your travel to the US. So keep this in mind. Keep remember that you have enough time, you know, enough buffer time with you. So do not stress. The first thing that you need to do right now is to remain calm and remain patient. The second thing that you need to do is to keep checking for appointments. So post May 15th, we expect that the embassies are going to start, you know, or rather restart the FNB's appointment. So you need to be really vigilant for availability of slots, availability of appointments. So keep a close tab on these availability. I suggest that you check at least twice a day early morning and late night because usually this is when we see that the slots are being released. Another thing that you can do is to join telegram groups and WhatsApp groups. I know that there are a lot of students who are part of telegram groups and WhatsApp groups where these slots availability are being updated and people are informing each other whenever, you know, the slots open up. So go ahead and be a part of these groups so that as soon as the slot is open, you know, you are informed. The third thing that you need to do is to keep your location flexible. So be ready to travel across India to give your FN visa interview. Do not fixate on a particular location. Do not wait for the appointments to open in a location in your city or near your city. Be flexible to taking the interview wherever it is available in India. And of course the last thing is to be prepared. Make sure that you have done everything that you need to do from your end. So this will involve filling your DS160 form, keep it filled, keep it up to date and of course preparing for the interview. So make sure that you are prepared for your interview, prepare your document checklist, prepare your answers, prepare your profile, practice it and just be ready so that the moment an interview slot becomes available. You can just go give that interview and smash it. To prepare for your visa interview, there are tons of resources. So we have a lot of videos on this channel. We have an F1 visa series going on. You can check out this entire playlist and this will help you prepare for the F1 visa. For a more in-depth preparation, you can also book a consultation session with me. This will be a one-to-one session and I can help you and guide you through the process. You can also take a mock or a practice interview with me. This will be done on a video call and very similar to the actual visa interview. And in addition to all this, we also have an F1 interview prep course. So this course has modules, templates, sample answers, which will basically help you, you know, get ready for the process and you can do it at your own pace. So the link for all of these things will be in the description box below. Do check it out and yes, stay subscribed, stay tuned for all the updates. In the meanwhile, stay safe, take really, really good care of yourself and your family. I'll see you in the next one. Signing off for now. Bye.