How To Check Your Visa Status
Visit the following link at any time to monitor the status of your application:
https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx
After your visa interview, kindly wait at least three business days before checking the status of your visa application. Before that, the system might not have changed the status of the application. Therefore, the notice you receive might not accurately reflect the current situation.
Documentation Needed to Retrieve your Passport
You will have to present the blue ticket stub you were given after your interview to get your passport back.
Even in the case of family members, if someone else is picking up your passport on your behalf from the collection office, he or she will have to show the ticket stub that you received after your successful visa interview.
What if I Have An Emergency, And The Normal Visa Application Process Will Take Too Long?
You will be allowed to make an emergency booking only after first making a normal appointment. By logging into your profile and selecting the “Emergency Appointment” request option on the left menu bar, you can submit an expedited appointment request (if applicable). You will have the chance to motivate your request for an emergency appointment as you proceed through the request procedure. The Consulate’s answer will be sent to you via email. Because applicants are only permitted to submit one request for an expedited appointment, it is crucial to ensure you meet all the requirements.
Make sure you have proper documentary proof to back up the urgency of your application before requesting an accelerated appointment. The results of your visa application could be negatively impacted if it turns out that you falsified information about the grounds for your urgent need for the trip during the visa interview. These details will be included in your case file. There will not be another opportunity to request an expedited appointment for applicants who were already given such an appointment but later denied a visa at the U.S. Embassy. All applicants must first pay the relevant fees for a standard visa appointment before seeking an expedited appointment.
Note: Expedited appointments are unavailable for trips taken to attend weddings, graduations, help expectant family members, or indulge in last-minute leisure activities. Please plan a routine visa appointment well before the time for this kind of travel.
Death/Funeral
This is when you plan to embark on a trip to attend the funeral of or to arrange for the remains of a close family member—father, mother, sister, brother, or child—to be repatriated to the U. S.
Required Documentation
A letter from the funeral home’s director containing their contact info, the deceased’s details, and the funeral’s date.
You must also prove that the departed was a close relative.
Medical Emergencies
To receive urgent medical treatment or to travel with a family member or coworker who needs to receive urgent medical attention.
Required Documentation
- A letter from your physician outlining your condition and why you need to go to the US for treatment.
- A letter from the hospital or doctor in the U.S. confirming that they are willing to handle the case and outlining the estimated cost of the care.
- Proof of your ability to pay for the costs involved with the treatment.
ESTA Rejected
If you are a national of a country that participates in the Visa Waiver Program but have been informed that you are no longer qualified to enter the country through that program, you may apply for an expedited visa appointment. Such visitors include those who hold dual citizenship with Iran, Iraq, Syria, or Sudan, as well as those who have visited Libya, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, or Sudan after March 1, 2011. Your trip should be impending to be eligible for an accelerated visa appointment. Please provide the date and reason for your journey in the request.
Required Documentation
a duplicate of the notification you got from US Customs and Border Protection about the status of your ESTA.
Urgent Business-related Trips
In this case, the journey must be to resolve an urgent business issue for which advance planning was not possible.
Required Documentation
An invitation letter from the associated firm in the United States verifying the urgency of the intended trip, outlining the nature of the business, and stating that either the local or the U.S. firm will lose out on a substantial opportunity in the absence of an accelerated appointment.
Acceptable forms of proof for a 3-month or shorter crucial training session in the U.S. include letters from the local employer and the American business conducting the training. The training should be explained in detail in both letters, along with a full explanation and a detailed justification for why, if an accelerated appointment is not possible, either the U.S. or local company will lose out significantly.
Exchange Visitors or Students
The trip’s main goal is to start or resume a legitimate study program in the U.S. within a period of 60 days at a time when regular visa appointments are unavailable. Only students/exchange students who are less than 60 days from their start date are eligible for this option.
Required Documentation
- Original Form I-20 or Form DS-2019 stating the program’s commencement date within 60 days
- A record proving you paid the SEVIS fee (where applicable).
Requesting an Expedited (Urgent) Appointment
Step 1
Fill out the DS-160 Nonimmigrant Visa Electronic Application form.
Step 2
Pay the necessary application fee for the visa.
Step 3
Make an online reservation for the earliest open time slot. Please be aware that you must first make an appointment to request an accelerated date. An onscreen notice displaying the earliest possible appointment date—including expedited appointments—will show on the screen when you arrange your appointment. You might, at this stage, find that it is not possible to schedule an expedited appointment because earlier dates are not available.
If you want to move forward with seeking an accelerated appointment, fill out the English Expedited Request Form or call the call center to get help. Please make sure to specify the level of urgency you feel makes you eligible for an accelerated appointment. Please be patient while you await the U.S. Embassy’s email response after submitting your request.
Step 4
If the American Embassy grants your request, you will be notified via email to make an online booking for the accelerated appointment. Please be aware that while contact center representatives are able to help you with any questions, they are not able to set up an accelerated appointment for you.
You will be contacted through email if the U.S. Embassy rejects your application for an expedited appointment, in which case you should revert to your current appointment.
Please take note that no-reply@ustraveldocs.com will be the sender of the email approving or rejecting your request. Be aware that your mail application might filter emails from unknown senders into a spam or junk mail folder. Please, therefore, check your trash and spam email folders if you haven’t received an email notification within a reasonable time.
Step 5
Visit the American embassy on the day and time of your scheduled visa appointment. You must bring a printed version of your appointment notification, the confirmation page showing that you submitted Form DS-160, one recent photo, your present and all previous passports, as well as any necessary supporting documentation. An application that is not accompanied by all of these will not be processed.