Updated U.S. Immigrant Visa Interview Policy 2025: Interview in Country of Residence or Nationality | Department of State Guidance

The Department of State updated its immigrant visa interview policy on August 28, 2025. Beginning November 1, 2025, immigrant visa applicants are generally required to interview in the consular district of their place of residence or, upon request, in their country of nationality, with limited exceptions such as humanitarian or medical emergencies.

Residents of countries where routine visa operations are suspended or paused should apply at their designated immigrant visa processing post, unless the applicant is a national of another country with ongoing operations.  See the designated posts listed below. The National Visa Center (NVC) will schedule these interviews accordingly.

This update can be found here.

Existing policy:

In general, the immigrant visa interviews are scheduled at the country of residence as indicated in the immigrant visa application/petition. However, applicants had the choice to request NVC to schedule the interview in a third country to avoid backlogs.

New Policy:

Moving forward (effective Nov 1, 2025) your interview will be scheduled in your country of residence by NVC (National Visa Center), you may request your to be scheduled in your country of nationality, on rare occasions owing to medical or humanitarian grounds you may request for the interview to be scheduled in a third country.

Who are affected by this policy updated?

Immigrant visa applicants who requested consular processing and attend their immigrant visa interviews at U.S. Consular Posts, as managed by the U.S. Department of State and the National Visa Center, are subject to this policy.

Immigrant visa applicants who chose adjustment of status by filing Form I-485 are not affected by this policy.

Immigrant Visa Designated Processing Posts

RESIDENT OF	DESIGNATED POST(S)
Afghanistan (except Special Immigrant Visas)	Islamabad
Belarus	Warsaw
Eritrea	Addis Ababa, Nairobi
Haiti	Nassau
Iran	Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Yerevan
Libya	Tunis
Niger	Abidjan
North Korea	Guangzhou
Russia	Warsaw, Almaty (IR-5), Tashkent (IR-5)
Somalia	Nairobi
South Sudan	Nairobi
Sudan	Cairo
Syria	Amman, Beirut (for Palestinians with Syrian Travel Documents)
Venezuela	Bogota
Yemen	Djibouti
Zimbabwe	Johannesburg

Key points include:

• Existing appointments mostly will not be rescheduled or canceled.

  
  

• If an applicant wants to transfer their case to another consular district after the appointment is set, they must contact the NVC not the consulate using the NVC’s Public Inquiry Form.

  
  

• For applicants requesting an interview outside their assigned consular district or country of nationality, the NVC may request additional proof of residence or justification for exceptions.

  
  

• Applicants in countries where routine visa operations are suspended should attend appointment at designated posts unless they hold nationality from a country with ongoing operations.

  
  

• Diversity Visa applicants for the DV-2026 program year will also follow these new rules.

  
  

• Applicants should regularly check embassy and consulate websites for detailed visa procedures and operational statuses.

  
  

This policy supersedes all previous guidance on visa processing locations and aims to streamline consular operations and reduce logistical complications.