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Law360 (April 26, 2021, 6:02 PM EDT ) The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi has canceled in-person visa appointments and interview-waiver appointments until May 9, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise throughout India.
The embassy tweeted out the decision, which is due to "pandemic conditions," on Friday. The foreign mission said it will make every attempt to honor scheduled emergency appointments, adding that emergency services for U.S. citizens will continue.
The New Delhi Visa Application Center said it is able to honor emergency biometrics appointments only, while the consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata continue to offer limited visa appointments, though they could cancel sessions depending on local pandemic conditions, which are changing rapidly.
India's Health Ministry on Sunday reported another 2,767 fatalities over the most recent 24-hour period, bringing the country's COVID-19-related death total to 192,311.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice, while the Department of State issued a Level 4 Travel Advisory advising against all travel to India, but U.S. travel to and from the country remains open with significant COVID-19 restrictions. A senior Biden administration official said Monday that travelers must receive a negative COVID-19 test before traveling from India to the U.S. and then must quarantine and receive a second negative test.
Other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom, have suspended travel from India in the past week. The Biden administration did not say if the U.S. would follow suit on Monday, but the senior official said during a travel call that "For travel restrictions, we're always looking to see if there are additional layers of travel restrictions to put in place."
"India is facing a huge surge right now," the official said, outlining measures concerning how the U.S. is sending oxygen generation systems and vaccine manufacturing supplies to the country.
Only Indian nationals, diplomats and those listed in a government memorandum may currently travel to the country from the U.S.
For those in India still seeking visas, consulates outside of New Delhi have reached out to some visa applicants instructing them to use a dropbox for certain submissions.
The embassy's website says it is accepting dropbox applications for renewals of all nonimmigrant visa categories up to 48 months after the visa's expiration at Visa Application Centers across India, meaning applicants whose visa expired within the 48 months prior to the application date are eligible for an interview waiver for a visa application in the same classification.
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India are still accommodating a limited number of employment-based visa appointments, including those previously affected by the Trump-era suspension on certain H-1B, J and L visas, which expired on March 31.
The embassy is encouraging Indian students planning to pursue study abroad programs in the U.S. on F-1 visas for the 2021-2022 academic year to continue applying. Despite the surge of COVID-19 cases, 1,102 F-1 visas were issued in March 2021, an increase of a few hundred from February.
--Editing by Steven Edelstone.
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