United States and Russia halt visa processing

NEW DELHI: Foreign missions in India have begun suspending visa processing in view of the second wave of Covid. A few countries are learnt to be thinking of asking a significant part of their embassy staff to leave the country.

The US embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday tweeted that “visa appointments, both in-person and interview waiver, are cancelled from April 20 to 25.” Later, it made some changes to this and tweeted: “ VAC appointments for biometrics and for interview waiver document drop-off for US embassy Delhi will be honoured this week. Visa interview appointments are cancelled through Friday, April 23.”

The Russian embassy also tweeted that its visa section is temporarily ceasing operations from Tuesday.


The US embassy website said, “…until further notice, the US consulate general in Mumbai will only provide essential services to US citizens ... US embassy in Delhi and consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata continue operations, but will assess local conditions.” The embassy in Delhi and consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata will “continue to accommodate limited number of regular visa appointments,” it added.