Interview Waiver

The postal submission of documents or the visa submission service can only be used by applicants who meet all of the following requirements:

1. The Visa Reissuance Program applies only to select U.S. nonimmigrant visas:
   B, C, D, F, H, I, J, L, M, O, P, Q, R
2. Applicants must be German citizens or citizens of another EU member state.
3. Applicants must be physically present in Germany at the time of postal submission of the documents and must be available to the consulate for any queries or a (possible) subsequent invitation to a personal appointment.
4. Only applicants who apply for exactly the same visa category that has already been approved during an interview at the U.S. consulates in Berlin, Frankfurt/Main and Munich are eligible.
5. New: The visa must be currently still valid or not longer than48 months have expired. The period will be extended accordingly up to and including December 31, 2023.
6. The visa must not have been issued before January 1, 2008.
7. Applicant still has passport including US visa.
8. Neither "Clearance", "Waiver" nor "Blanket" is noted in the annotation or in the annotation field of the last visa.
   (Notice: L-Blanket visas are therefore excluded from the Visa Reissuance Program, the same currently applies to e visas).

Attention: Anyone who has had a visa denial cannot qualify for the Visa Reissuance Program.

Those who wish to take advantage of the Interview Waiver Program must follow these steps to submit their visa application materials.

1st step:
To apply for a US visa, you must first obtain an online profile on the website of the visa information service CGI Federal Inc. In the profile, among other things, some yes/no queries are made regarding the interview waiver access requirements.

2nd step:
If applicants meet the above requirements and thus qualify for the Interview Waiver Program, they will be notified of this by a message in their online profile and can then choose whether to submit the application by mail. Alternatively, they still have the option of scheduling a regular appointment. If applicants choose to submit by mail, they will receive an "Interview Waiver Confirmation Letter" in their profile and will be prompted to send an email regarding the completion of their visa application materials.

3rd step:

On the "Interview Waiver Confirmation Letter" you will find all the information about the submission procedure, which please follow exactly. In addition, you will also find payment information for shipping costs and address details. If applicants do not follow these requirements, the visa application process may be delayed by the US Consulate. The submission process varies from U.S. consulate to U.S. consulate worldwide. Please inform yourself in time about the exact requirements and process steps at the respective U.S. consulate. In Germany you will find here current information.

In the German US consulates, the processing times for the postal submission procedure are around 2-4 weeks (from the time the application documents are sent to the U.S. consulate until the passport including the visa is returned to the applicant).

Attention: Finally, we would like to expressly point out once again that neither the waiver of the personal interview appointment nor the issuance of the visa can be guaranteed. The US Consulate reserves the right to invite applicants to a personal interview appointment at the US Consulate despite qualification for the Visa Waiver Program.