US Visa Renewal Interview Waiver Extended to St Vincent and the Grenadines

The United States Embassy has announced interview visa waivers for qualified citizens of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) as of February 4, 2021.

“Passport holders from St. Vincent and the Grenadines may qualify for a visa renewal interview waiver if their previous visa expired within the past two years and they are applying for the same visa category as their previous visa,” the Embassy said in a release.

This development is part of the United States Government’s continuing efforts to facilitate travel with our Caribbean partners, improve customer service during the COVID-19 pandemic, and streamline the visa renewal process the release said.

The applicant must be physically present in their home country or within the consular district of the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados [1] to avail themselves of this option.  Additionally, the previous U.S. visa must be in the applicant’s possession, and the applicant must have submitted a 10-fingerprint scan in conjunction with the previous visa application. Students who wish to renew their visas, and who satisfy the aforementioned requirements may qualify for interview waiver if they are applying to continue attendance at the same institution, or will continue the same major course of study at a different institution.  Applicants seeking to renew work-related visas who are returning to work for the same employer/company as annotated on the previous visa may also qualify.  Applicants under the age of 14 and over 79 will continue to qualify for interview waiver in most visa classifications.

The release said: “Eligibility for interview waiver does not automatically entitle applicants to a waiver of the interview requirement.  Meeting the general qualifications for visa renewal interview waiver does not guarantee that an applicant will not be requested to present him or herself in person for an interview at the Embassy.”

For general information, please see the Nonimmigrant Visa section of the Embassy’s website https://bb.usembassy.gov/visas/nonimmigrant-visas/, or to begin the process to determine if you qualify for interview waiver, please see https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-bb/niv.

[1] The consular district comprises of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin (French), and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

[UPDATED on Thursday, February 4, 2021 at 6:54pm to remove references to Citizenship by Investment program]