In That Case: Department of State v. Muñoz
Episode 315 - Boeing Pays $51 Million for ITAR Violations
Matt Silverman on Export Compliance
On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced that, with few exceptions, all nonimmigrant visa applicants, including applicants under the age of 14 and over the age of 79, will require an in-person interview with a...more
Beginning on September 2, 2025, U.S. consulates will implement a more restrictive version of the nonimmigrant visa (NIV) interview waiver (IW) program. The IW program is also commonly referred to as “drop box” visa...more
On July 25, the U.S. Department of State announced that, effective September 2, most nonimmigrant visa applicants will no longer qualify for a visa interview waiver. Additionally, India’s popular dropbox “appointments,” which...more
There are several recent changes about visas to the United States, including a new visa integrity fee that will be imposed on all foreign nationals needing nonimmigrant visas, limitations on validity periods, and limitations...more
On July 25, the U.S. Department of State announced a sweeping rollback of the nonimmigrant visa interview waiver program — often called the “drop box” system. Under the drop box system, many applicants for nonimmigrant visas...more
Effective September 2, 2025, the U.S. State Department is eliminating visa waiver of appointments (otherwise called dropbox appointments) for many visa applicants. Many visa applicants and their dependents previously...more
On July 25, 2025, the U.S. Department of State announced a new policy that will significantly limit the eligibility of visa applicants to obtain visas without consular interviews. The new policy will go into effect on...more
The U.S. Department of State announced that effective September 2, 2025, the categories of applicants that may be eligible for the Dropbox Program (a/k/a Interview Waiver) will be updated, adding further restrictions to those...more
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently revised its visa reciprocity schedules for numerous countries, significantly reducing the duration of nonimmigrant visa validity to three months and a single entry in many cases....more
Recent United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and U.S. State Department updates require businesses and individuals to adhere to new TN visa eligibility criteria—such as prohibiting self-employment,...more
The following information updates the alert we distributed on June 9: In line with the Presidential Proclamation restricting the entry of certain foreign nationals from the United States, the Department of State has issued...more
Last week, an internal U.S. Department of State (DOS) correspondence pertaining to visa processing for international student and exchange visitors in the F, M, and J visa classifications was leaked and published by various...more
On April 30, 2025, the U.S. Department of State launched two new tools to monitor immigrant and nonimmigrant visa interview availability: (1) the Immigrant Visa (IV) Scheduling Status Tool, and (2) the Global Visa Wait Times...more
On February 18, 2025, the US Department of State announced a new policy requiring more foreign nationals to attend in-person interviews to apply for nonimmigrant visas....more
The Department of State unexpectedly updated the requirements for nonimmigrant visa interview waiver eligibility, effective February 18, 2025. The interview waiver program (also referred to as Dropbox) allows qualified visa...more
International travelers seeking to renew their U.S. visas must meet stricter requirements and may see longer wait times. Effective February 18, 2025, DOS has officially reverted the special pandemic-era eligibility criteria...more
On February 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State updated visa interview waiver (“drop box”) eligibility criteria for individuals renewing their visa stamps, resulting in sudden drop box appointment cancellations and...more
After quietly updating consular websites, signaling a significant change to Visa Interview Waiver (“dropbox”) eligibility requirements, on Feb. 18, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) officially announced the reversion to...more
The U.S. Department of State has announced updated guidance restricting eligibility for nonimmigrant visa interview waivers at U.S. Consulates. Under the revised guidance, nonimmigrant visa applicants may be eligible for an...more
The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India recently announced updates to nonimmigrant visa processing that took effect last week, including changes to interview waiver (drop box) eligibility and the centralization of visa...more
The U.S. Department of State has unexpectedly updated Consular websites with revised eligibility requirements for Visa Interview Waiver (“dropbox”) appointments. Effective immediately, dropbox eligibility is limited to...more
On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued a series of executive orders that imposed significant reforms to the immigration system, many of which may or will have an impact on employment-based visas. The following is a...more
The Department of State (DOS) revised the J-1 Skills List, which lists home countries to which foreign nationals are subject to a two-year foreign home residency requirement. •The 37 countries that have been removed from...more
On December 9, 2024, The Department of State issued two major revisions to its Exchange Visitor Skills list resulting in reducing the number of countries on the Exchange Visitor Skills List by almost half. Countries such as...more
Yesterday, the Biden Administration announced a new immigration program in the United States aimed at promoting family unity. The program will allow some undocumented spouses and undocumented children of U.S. citizens to...more