Embassy of the United States

Visas

Emergencies

A limited number of visa applicants may qualify for emergency visa interview appointments.  To obtain an emergency appointment you must satisfy one or more of the criteria listed below.

The criteria:

• You to need to obtain urgent medical care in the U.S.

• You need to accompany an immediate family member who requires urgent medical care.  Immediate family members include mother, father, brother, sister, child, grandparent or grandchild.

• An immediate family member in the U.S. has a serious medical condition and requires your presence urgently.

• You need to attend the funeral of an immediate family member.

• You need to attend an urgent and late breaking business matter, where the need to travel to the U.S. could not have been foreseen.

• You need to make an appearance in a U.S. court.
  

What you need to consider:

If you believe you qualify for an emergency appointment, please read the following points carefully, before you apply for an emergency appointment:

• In order to initiate your request for an emergency appointment, you must first have applied for a regular appointment.

• You must have documentary evidence to prove that you satisfy one or more of the criteria for an emergency appointment. (See above.)

• If the consular officer finds you misrepresented your reason for travel to the U.S., a record of the misrepresentation goes in your case file and may adversely influence the outcome of your current and future visa applications.

• If the consular officer determines you do not have a genuine emergency, as defined by the criteria above, the officer will ask you to come back on your regular appointment date.

• Once you obtain an emergency appointment, you are treated as a normal visa applicant; you must qualify for a U.S. visa in every respect.

• The Visa Application Fee and the appointment fee are nonrefundable.

►  I do not qualify (Return to the previous page)

►  I believe I qualify (Proceed with request)