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U.S. Consulates in Canada Have No Availability for Third Country National (i.e. non-Canadian) U.S. Visa Applications This Summer

June 18, 2017

Non-immigrants in the United States who wish to travel abroad need to make sure that they have a valid U.S. visa before re-entering the country – even if they are in valid status. Usually, this means they must travel back to their home county in order to renew their visa. For some, this is extremely inconvenient. What if an Indian citizen wants to vacation in South America, or visit family in the U.K., but they have yet to renew their H-1B visa? Even if their H-1B status is valid years into the future, they would need to get a new H-1B visa before or during their next trip abroad. In this case, that would usually require travel back to India, as most visa renewal applications take place in the applicant’s home country.

However, U.S. Consulates in select countries offer visa appointments to “Third Country National” (TCN) applicants, i.e. applicants who are neither U.S. citizens, nor citizens of the country where the Consulate in question is located. Canada in particular is a convenient option for applicants seeking to renew a visa, who wish to avoid a long and otherwise-unnecessary trip back to their home country.

Unfortunately, it looks as U.S. Consulates in Canada are all booked up on such appointment throughout the summer of 2017 (and in most cases, beyond). Below are then next available TCN visa appointments as reported by each of the U.S. Consulates in Canada:

Applicants who wish to renew their visas in the coming months should either plan on doing so in their home countries, or contact their attorneys to discuss other Consulates that may accept TCN appointments. TCN applicants should keep in mind that all visa applications involve some amount of officer discretion (even when the underlying status is already approved), and if a visa application were to be denied, an applicant could be forced to make the trip back to their home country anyway (without being able to re-enter the U.S. in the interim).

TAGS: Consulates, TCN, Temporary Visas, Third Country National Visas