Visa question of the month - Interview or postal application

Our company is currently applying for an L-1 visa for an employee (German nationality) and has already booked a fixed appointment at the US Consulate in Frankfurt/Main in this context. Unfortunately, this appointment will not take place for another 4 weeks. Do you advise to keep the appointment or to go the easier way now and apply for the documents by mail? And how would that be possible now?

In fact, the U.S. Department of State has responded to the critical appointment availability situation at U.S. consulates worldwide by expanding the postal submission process for certain visa categories.

From now until and including the end of the year, certain applicants may apply for the US visa without the otherwise mandatory in-person interview appointment. Also L-1 Visas are affected.

First, please note that not all individuals applying for an L-1 visa automatically qualify for the submission process. In the case of your employee, it would only work under the following conditions:

1. The lady applies for the visa in the country of citizenship and is also currently staying in Germany. This should be the case.
2. There are no potential or general grounds for exclusion (e.g. criminal record) for the issuance of a US visa. We also assume this to be the case.
3. This must be an L-1 Individual visa (petition-based; I-797 Approval Notice from USCIS is available). L-Blanket visas unfortunately do not fall under the new interview exemption rule.
4. If the employee is applying for the L-1 visa for the first timeHere the employee must already once with a ESTA authorization (under the visa waiver) or entered the U.S. under any other visa category.
5. If the employee wishes to extend her L-1 visaIn this case, the previous L-1 visa must not have expired for more than 48 months and the lady's master data (name, nationality, etc.) must not have changed in the meantime. Under these conditions, a postal submission would be possible.