U.S. visa emergency appointment
The United States Department of Foreign Affairs has a mechanism to advance an appointment to apply for a nonimmigrant visa in case of urgency. This is known as a U.S. visa emergency appointment.
U.S. Visa ApplicationWhat is an emergency appointment?
The emergency appointment is specially designed for those unforeseen situations that require an urgent trip to the United States, for example: the death of a family member or a medical emergency.
For these types of cases, it is possible to push up the date to carry out the consular interview for the U.S. visa as soon as possible. Thus, the time necessary to resolve the visa process is exceptionally reduced.
Emergency appointments are subject to certain conditions being met and the availability of the embassy or consulate.
Requirements to request an emergency appointment
Citizens of any country eligible to apply for a visa can request an emergency appointment during the visa application process. To do this, it is necessary to meet one of the criteria stipulated by the U.S. authorities:
- Death, illness or serious accident of an immediate family member that occurs in the United States
- Need for urgent medical treatment for the applicant or for a minor child
- Students who are in the process of a study or exchange visa whose course begins before the first available appointment for the American visa
- Workers who unexpectedly need to travel for urgent reasons within 10 days of the first available appointment
- People who need to make a relevant and unexpected cultural, political, journalistic, sports or economic visit within 10 days after the first available appointment
To make an emergency visa application, you must have supporting documents that justify its emergency nature. Appointments will be granted at the sole discretion of the Consular Section.
How to apply for an expedited appointment
To request an emergency appointment for an U.S. visa, you must follow the steps indicated below:
- Complete the U.S. Visa Application Form DS-160 on the U.S. Department of State web site
- Log in to the Official US Department of State Visa Appointment Service for your country
- Pay for the U.S. visa application fee (MRV)
- Schedule a visa appointment on the first available date
- Go back to the main page of your profile and click on emergency request indicating the reason for the urgent request and summit the required documents
- The embassy or consulate with which you are carrying out the process will contact you via email to notify you of the decision (this can take approximately up to 72 business hours)
- If you are granted the emergency appointment, you will need to log in again to the Department of State appointment service and click on reschedule appointment and then cancel the first scheduled appointment.
- Schedule the consular interview on the new emergency appointment date and attend the interview
Cost of the emergency appointment
The processing of the U.S. visa with an emergency appointment does not imply additional costs. It only requires the payment of the U.S. visa application fee, as happens with a visa application on a regular basis. This cost is 185 USD.
Payment of the application fee must be made at a bank designated by the United States authorities.
Interview for your emergency appointment
The consular interview for urgent procedures is the same as for regular cases.
To schedule the new emergency date approved by the U.S. authorities, you must cancel the previously scheduled appointment as follows:
- Log in to the Department of State web site
- Click on “new appointment”
- Select the type of visa, review your application and proceed to the payment page. At this point the system will detect that the payment of the visa application fee has already been made
- Click on "schedule appointment" and select the approved date
- Go to the interview at the embassy or consulate
Important: You must attend the interview providing all the corresponding documents.
Required documents for the emergency visa appointment
To justify your emergency appointment, you must submit the documentation that justifies the unforeseen event and advance appointment. Find out the documents you must provide to prove the emergency:
Death or terminal illness of a family member
- In case of death, you must submit a written document indicating where and how the death of the family member occurred.
- In case of illness, you will need to accredit a medical report specifying the serious state of health of the immediate family member. In addition, you must include the contact information of the doctor.
Health Emergency
- Submit a medical report detailing the applicant's state of health that justifies the stay and specifies the nature of the medical emergency.
Business Emergency
- A written request on letterhead is required. In it, you must detail and justify the urgent nature of the trip.
Students
- Submit documentation that proves your student status, in addition to late resolutions to the DS-2019 (Exchange Visitor Visas) and I-20 (Nonimmigrant Student) applications.
Additionally, for the emergency appointment you must also have the mandatory documentation and complementary documentation for your visa application.
The mandatory documentation is comprised of:
- Passport valid for 6 months beyond the planned departure date from the US.
- Printed Application Form DS-160
- Receipt of payment of the visa application fee issued by the bank
- Printed copy of the appointment confirmation scheduled at the U.S. embassy or consulate
- Recent 5 x 5 cm color photograph
How long is a visa with an emergency appointment valid?
Generally, visas that are processed under emergency procedures have the same validity period as a document obtained regularly, that is, up to 10 years.
Request your visa with an emergency appointment in a simple way
As an alternative to the emergency appointment request procedure, USVisaWizard offers you the following advantages to make your process less complex:
- Simplified and accessible DS-160 form 100% official compliant
- Retrieve your form whenever you wish. We save your progress to continue the form at another time
- Assistance and verification of your application
- Detailed instructions to pay the visa application fee (MRV)
- We schedule your appointment at the embassy or consulate and at the VAC
- Practical guide for a successful interview