Visa Issues

U.S. Consulate General Announces New Initiative to Speed Visa Processing

News Release
December 17, 2004, Friday

Effective immediately, all applicants for non-immigrant visas to the United States should use the new online electronic visa application form to complete their visa applications. The electronic form contains a bar code that allows Consulate staff to electronically transfer the applicant's data to a computer record. This innovation significantly reduces the applicant's waiting time during the visa application process.

In order to encourage use of the new form, the U.S. Consulate General is establishing "electronic visa application only" interview days. Applicants who use the electronic visa form can continue to make appointments for any weekday (except for local and U.S. holidays) for their interview via our online appointment system. However, as of January 10, 2005, applicants who do not use the electronic form will only be allowed to make appointments and come in for visa interviews on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The Consulate General continues to allow students, exchange visitors, petition-based visa applicants and Macau residents to walk in without an appointment from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. daily. However, if they do so on any day other than Wednesday or Thursday, they will need to submit an electronic visa application form, as do all other applicants.

The on-line application form can be accessed through the website of the U.S. Consulate General: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/ or at http://evisaforms.state.gov/ These websites contain detailed instructions on how to fill out the form. Applicants should follow the instructions carefully, print out all the pages and bring them to their visa interview.

The U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong is committed to high-quality customer service. The electronic visa application form will allow the Consulate to continue providing next-day availability of appointments to meet the high demand for U.S. visas.

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