If you are having questions about consular processing or any issue related to securing a visa from outside of the United States, then you should refer to the State Department and not the USCIS. Sometimes immigration applicants can become confused by relying on the USCIS site, when in fact this DHS agency is only in charge of processing family, employment based, and humanitarian related applications for those within the United States. As such, the USCIS site can be helpful for those who are already on American soil, but is largely counterproductive for those going through consular processing and are residing in another country.
The Basics
The State Department advises the President and also leads the United States when it comes to making critical foreign policy decisions. You might hear that the Secretary of State has recently met with a foreign leader or that the State Department has condemned some type of human rights violation in another country. Besides navigating and assessing foreign policies, the State Department is also broken up into respective U.S. Consulates and Embassies throughout the world. This is why if you are seeking help or assistance with your visa from abroad, you need to contact your respective U.S. embassy or consulate that you are applying through. Employees at these stations are government employees hired by the State Department and represent the interests and laws of the United States (including immigration law).
In order to be better assisted, it is a good idea to become familiar with the DOS website, and learn how to navigate the Visa sections. First, go to https://www.state.gov/. This is the homepage of the State Department. You will notice there are multiple tabs at the top of the website. Along this list, you will “Visas” on the far right. Click on this tab to be re-directed to everything consular related for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas.
Visa Resources
You will now see that everything on this link is broken down into respective categories, and that there are many clickable items to be redirected to. In general, if you are applying for a non-immigrant visa to the U.S. (temporary), you should use the Non-immigrant section to search for what you are looking for. The same goes with the Immigrant (for permanent residence) below.
If you are simply looking to visit the United States, click on the “Tourism” tab and be sure to check if your country is a member to the VWP—Visa Waiver Program.
In addition, those who are seeking help on the DOS website should note that re-directing to the “Visa” section via the general website will only bring you to another general page with more hyperlinks. Once you have clicked on “Study & Exchange” for example, you should notice that you have actually relocated to the travel.state.gov domain. This domain will provide visa applicants other resources that have previously been discussed on the blog. For example, by clicking the “US Visas” tab, you should be able to scroll down and see a Visa Appointment wait time application, as well as an Immigrant Backlog Report on the right hand side of the website.
Travel Advisories
On the same travel.state.gov domain, next to the “US Visas” tab, you can also click on the “International Travel” tab, which will give visa applicants, or those who have been granted a visa and need to make arrangements to travel to the U.S., or to another country, official information as it relates to Travel Advisories and local country conditions. Under the “Before you Go” drop-down, you can also view the official Covid-19 testing required for U.S. Entry. The State Department works in conjunction with the CDC—Center for Disease Control to ensure that U.S. entry requirements are always up to date for international travellers.
