Thank you for your patience as we prepared to resume processing student visas. Today, we’re happy to provide instructions for how to schedule your visa interview. Interviews will begin Monday, September 21, 2020. All applicants need to fill out the DS-160 form, and have paid their SEVIS fee. Additionally, you will need to bring confirmation of your SEVIS payment, and your I-20 form to the Embassy when you come for your interview. Once you have paid the SEVIS fee and completed the DS-160, you can request an appointment. For scheduling, there will be two categories of applicants.
- If your STUDENT visa expired less than 12 months ago, you are eligible to apply for a visa without requiring an interview. If you are in this category, please email us at ConsularMinsk@state.gov, and in the subject line put “Student Visa IWP Request” and in the body of the email, please put your full name, email address, phone number, visa type (F or M), and what kind of school you will be attending (university/college, language school, technical school, other). Please let us know if you need an afternoon or morning appointment. We will do the best we can to accommodate your request. We will respond with a time for you to come to the Embassy to pay your fee and drop off your application documents and passport. Please note, you are eligible for an interview waiver only if your STUDENT visa expired less than 12 months ago. If you had a B1/B2 visa, you will need to re-interview.
- If your STUDENT visa expired more than 12 months ago, OR if this is your first time applying for a student visa, you will need to schedule an interview. If you are in this category, please email us at ConsularMinsk@state.gov, using the subject line put “Interview Request – Student Visa”, and in the body of the email, please put your full name, email address, phone number, visa type (F or M), and what kind of school you will be attending (university/college, language school, technical school, other). We will respond with an interview time, when you will bring your documents and application fee to the Embassy
A few additional notes:
- If you request an interview waiver, and you are not eligible for an interview waiver, you may have to wait some time before you are scheduled for an interview, so please be sure you are requesting the right appointment
- Interviews are scheduled on a “first come, first served” basis. Please realize we will be trying to schedule as many applicants as we can safely see, and may not be able to accommodate requests for specific times or dates.
