Have you submitted the DS160 form?

[Ken5566]

I have received my I-20 document the University which I will attend this Fall. However, as US consulates around the world still have not reopened yet, I have not submitted my DS160 form online. Have you submitted the DS160 form? Thanks. 

[cafueles]

I haven't, I'm worried I'll need to defer to the Spring semester and therefore I'll need a new I-20 (I am not sure if the SEVIS ID will still be the same, does anybody know?).

I was planning on doing it as soon as the consulates open since I will then have a good idea whether I'll be able to finish the whole process by Fall.

[time_consume_me]

D160 is in but I haven't gotten ANY feedback on what is happening or how to proceed. I came here to ask about visa interview appointments. The tab on my CGI page (cgifederal.secure.force.com or similar) still reads "No appointment is currently scheduled" and I cannot even click it. It's not a link to anything.

 

Has anyone made it past this step?

[cafueles]

For some reason, these shown countries are redirected to this website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-us/countries_list/niv instead of the one you provided. Once there, I have submitted my DS-160 and was able to make an appointment for September. It all works as if everything was normal but there were no available dates until Sep, I even got a confirmation e-mail.

 

[cruel optimism]

8 hours ago, hojoojoh said:

D160 is in but I haven't gotten ANY feedback on what is happening or how to proceed. I came here to ask about visa interview appointments. The tab on my CGI page (cgifederal.secure.force.com or similar) still reads "No appointment is currently scheduled" and I cannot even click it. It's not a link to anything.

7 hours ago, cafueles said:

For some reason, these shown countries are redirected to this website https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-us/countries_list/niv instead of the one you provided. Once there, I have submitted my DS-160 and was able to make an appointment for September. It all works as if everything was normal but there were no available dates until Sep, I even got a confirmation e-mail.

while i've been able to make an appointment for late june, i've also been told by the consulate that "we do not yet have a fixed date for when visa services will resume.  We will make a decision on the status of appointments from June 29 to July 2 no later than June 15."

this means that appointments currently scheduled can be cancelled at any time, should the consulate find that it is still unable to resume regular operations by then. (i've also been advised by my department and the intl student services at my school to consider a deferral.) 

[cafueles]

Today I was encouraged by International Students Services to apply for an expedite appointment with my embassy. I called beforehand to the visa call center in order to confirm I'm eligible and they told me I am indeed under point c. I am now applying for an expedite appointment, I'll let you know how it goes. 

 

Edited June 11, 2020 by cafueles

[time_consume_me]

1 hour ago, cafueles said:

Today I was encouraged by International Students Services to apply for an expedite appointment with my embassy. I called beforehand to the visa call center in order to confirm I'm eligible and they told me I am indeed under point c. I am now applying for an expedite appointment, I'll let you know how it goes. 

 

good to know this is an option! I know my locale consulate also lists emergency/expedited cases as their only possible route at the moment.

Please let us know how this goes! Good luck.

 

edit: spelling

Edited June 11, 2020 by hojoojoh

[MMP]

3 hours ago, cafueles said:

Today I was encouraged by International Students Services to apply for an expedite appointment with my embassy. I called beforehand to the visa call center in order to confirm I'm eligible and they told me I am indeed under point c. I am now applying for an expedite appointment, I'll let you know how it goes. 

 

That's cool. I have an interview scheduled in early-July, I will contact them to make sure if it is possible here as well. Let us know about your process.

Edited June 11, 2020 by MMP

[cafueles]

Unfortunately, my request was denied. I received the following message: 
 

18 hours ago, cafueles said:

Thank you for contacting the U.S. Embassy in ---------------- regarding your emergency visa appointment request. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have cancelled all routine nonimmigrant visa appointments. At this time, your request for an emergency appointment does not meet our criteria for emergency reasons for travel. We are taking the student visa issue seriously and are seeking ways to ensure that our aspiring and returning students will receive priority attention once routine visa operations can resume. The Embassy will publicize any announcement on the resumption of student visa interviews once information is available. We recommend you follow the Embassy’s social media accounts for the latest information. Please don't resubmit your expedite request more than 20 days before your travel date. Please be sure to list your program start date and your intended travel date in your expedite request.

Thank you for understanding,

Nonimmigrant Visa Unit
U.S. Embassy 

 

I should add that the city this Embassy is in is in partial lockdown. Therefore, don't take this response as gospel if your local embassy is under different circumstances.

I also found it interesting that they told me not to resubmit any requests more than 20 days prior my travel date while every other website says there can only be a single request.

[Nolftop]

5 hours ago, cafueles said:

Unfortunately, my request was denied. I received the following message: 
 

I should add that the city this Embassy is in is in partial lockdown. Therefore, don't take this response as gospel if your local embassy is under different circumstances.

I also found it interesting that they told me not to resubmit any requests more than 20 days prior my travel date while every other website says there can only be a single request.

I wonder if you submitted the request for an expedited appointment withing 60 days before beginning of your program. May you tell which country you are from?

 

Is there somebody who managed to get an expedited appointment this summer?

[cafueles]

17 hours ago, Nolftop said:

I wonder if you submitted the request for an expedited appointment withing 60 days before beginning of your program. May you tell which country you are from?

 

Is there somebody who managed to get an expedited appointment this summer?

Yes, we're less than 60 days away. I prefer not to disclose that info.

[PokePsych]

Just FYI - immigration lawyers in the US are making a fuzz that potentially ALL non-immigrant visas will be canceled in the coming days/weeks (i.e., the sticker thing to enter) so everyone who is abroad (or traveling abroad) has to re-apply anyway. Received emails that ALL people who can return should do so ASAP, so at least they can stay/be here (you can legally stay as long as you have a valid I20/DS20--(whatever your year was))

So even if you manage to get a visa soon, it may be cancelled again :')