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US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

travel.state.gov

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Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#71

Post by Simulacra »

ashray wrote: post #16

This was already the case for almost every other country. Most embassies required you to be resident or a national of the country you are applying in. So oddly, the US was far more permissive than other locales in this one aspect. All this change does is bring it in line with security practices that other nations already had in place. Honestly am quite surprised that the US didn’t already have this restriction consid…

Many countries do things radically different than America does in terms of immigration, but it is quite clear over the past 20 years that one major political party in America favors more open immigration than the other. Where it seems most Americans prefer something right in the middle. Legal, but flexible.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#72

Post by blindfolded_go »

viceconsole wrote: post #65

I was a US diplomat in India for 2 years and processed tens of thousands of visas. While this change will cause some inconvenience for, e.g., current H-1B visa holders from India who can no longer travel to Canada or Mexio to apply for new visas, in general it makes a lot of sense. I worked at the number one H-1B processing post worldwide. Our post had the expertise to quickly evaluate applications and approve the cl…

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to get some real-world data in this thread as opposed to the emotional condemnations of this rule change.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#73

Post by viceconsole »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #20

The idea that someone from Haiti could get to Nassau for a visa interview is not serious.

There's no staff in Haiti to process visas at all, the embassy is on ordered depature. There are staff in Nassau, including people trained in Haitian Creole, and there are many Haitian applicants who apply for visas in Nassau. Where do you think the US should interview Haitian applicants? Also, if someone from Haiti has the resources to travel to the US, they have the resources to travel to Nassau for a visa interview.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#74

Post by throw-the-towel »

Simulacra wrote: post #69
linotype wrote: post #4

[flagged]

I lament that there is tightening, but I wonder how prevalent visa shopping was. Wouldn't we want to close that loophole? It seems it would only be something that would benefit the wealthy.

Well duh, you already have to be wealthy to get a US visa in the first place.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#75

Post by jeffbee »

neitherboosh wrote: post #40
linotype wrote: post #4

[flagged]

Hm, this comment makes me realize that there isn’t really a social consensus on whether or not AI generated content is welcome in these kinds of discussions. On one hand, I’m generally annoyed any time I see unsolicited AI generations because it’s usually garbage and I could have just asked an AI myself. But in this case I probably wasn’t going to and this comment is genuinely insightful… I guess I would have preferr…

> isn’t really a social consensus

I feel the consensus is clear. Reposting blurbs from robots is anathematic to our discourse.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#76

Post by throw-the-towel »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #20

The idea that someone from Haiti could get to Nassau for a visa interview is not serious.

The Darién Gap was believed to be impassable, now people cross it by the thousands just to get to the US. You're seriously underestimating how motivated and desperate some of these people are.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#77

Post by abxyz »

ashray wrote: post #49
abxyz wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Do you have any examples? I’ve had visas around the world (and encountered numerous weird requirements) but never have I been required to apply for a visa from my country of nationality. Even China, which is very restrictive, allows for non-national applications. (And in fact, in my experience, it is getting easier with online applications becoming more common.)

I have several examples and lots of personal experience. I’ve been asked to go back from Mexico, Brazil, and Chile while traveling there and applying for a visa to Peru. Finally the Peruvian embassy in Chile gave me a visa to visit Peru because I accidentally bumped into the assistant consul. https://bkpk.me/peru-visa-for-indians/ The San Francisco consulate of India refused to process my spouse’s Indian visa because…

Expanding on my previous comment with an example: I obtained a long term residency visa a few months ago. I was in the country at the time and didn’t want to fly 15 hours back to my home country, and the embassy in the neighbouring country only accepts applications from residents, so I flew to another nearby country which does accept non-residents. The country that I have a visa for doesn’t care where the visa is issued, it’s the individual embassies that set their own rules about who they will process applications for. You just have to look through each embassy to find one that accepts you (which will be documented on their website). Except now for the U.S. which is instituting this rule.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#78

Post by viceconsole »

throw-the-towel wrote: post #61
stickfigure wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess I am curious about this "visa shopping" problem - is it really a big deal? And if it is, how hard is it going to be for a motivated applicant to establish "proof of residence" in an arbitrary country? Are we talking about a utility bill? Is this just going to derail world travelers who want to add a last minute US leg to their itinerary? That would seem entirely pointless. Honestly I'm pretty confused.

For us in the third world it is! As an example, in my country of residence, a non-national needs to wait more than a year to even get to an interview with a US consul.

Year or longer waits for B visas are common in India. Part of the problem is the statutory requirement that first-time applicants need an in-person interview. When I worked in a US consulate in India, we would have loved to have lowered the age at which we could waive interviews from 80 to 70 or even 65, but that would have required action in DC. We also would have loved to have had more staff, but were limited by the amount of diplomatic positions the Indian government would approve.

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#79

Post by throw-the-towel »

mnky9800n wrote: post #15
eterpstra wrote: post #7

Can anyone explain a rational political motivation behind this? I realize "less immigrants" is the hand-wavy explanation, but how does this benefit those in charge?

Immigrants don’t apply for non immigrant visas

Not defending the US here, but are you saying that overstaying your visa does not exist?

Re: US Visa Applications Must Be Submitted from Country of Residence or Nationality

#80

Post by linotype »

julienchastang wrote: post #68
neitherboosh wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hm, this comment makes me realize that there isn’t really a social consensus on whether or not AI generated content is welcome in these kinds of discussions. On one hand, I’m generally annoyed any time I see unsolicited AI generations because it’s usually garbage and I could have just asked an AI myself. But in this case I probably wasn’t going to and this comment is genuinely insightful… I guess I would have preferr…

I also agree that this comment is likely AI generated (i.e., "why this matters" gave it away for me. I think I've seen this phrase a lot with ChatGPT). I think it is the last part of the last sentence and the toeing of the party line that bugs me, "likely aimed at improving security screening and preventing abuse of the system". It's "Manufacturing Consent"[0] à la 21st Century. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manu…

Again, please point out what’s wrong in the post and I will correct it.
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