Due to heightened security concerns related to September 11, the Department of State (DOS) has been reviewing and changing its visa application and issuance practices.  As part of these changes, the DOS has begun interviewing more visa applicants than they did prior to September 11.  Consequently, the DOS has made the procedure of fewer interview exemptions into a regulation. 

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) requires that all immigrant visa applicants appear before a consular officer in person.  However, previously, nonimmigrant visa applicants could receive a ‘personal appearance waiver’ (PAW).

The new regulation, effective August 1, 2003, significantly reduces the number and kind of situations in which certain visa applicants who previously have had their requirement to appear in person before a consular officer when applying for a nonimmigrant visa waived. 

Consular officers will not have broad discretion to grant PAWs to applicants for B, C-1, H-1, I, J and crew visas.  Officers will still have the authority to grant PAWs for diplomats and officials of international organizations.  Also, the regulation gives the DOS the authority to make a number of interview waiver decisions previously made at consular posts.  The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services will have the authority to grant a PAW if he or she finds that the waiver is in the national interest or involves unusual circumstances.

Under the new regulation, a consular officer may grant a PAW to certain categories of nonimmigrant applicants. These include: children age sixteen and younger and adults age sixty or older; applicants for A, C-2, C-3, G or NATO visas; those applicants who seek to obtain re-issuance of a nonimmigrant visa, who are within twelve months of the expiration of their previous visa and for whom the consular officer does not find any indication of noncompliance with U.S. immigration laws; and aliens for whom a waiver is necessary for national interest or because of unusual circumstances.

The State Department is warning applicants to expect long delays at many consulates around the world.