Embassy Announces Changes to NIV Application Process

Embassy Announces Changes to NIV Application Process

Beginning on January 1, 2012, non-immigrant visa (NIV) applicants in El Salvador will be required to complete all of the required questions on the CEAC application form, and do so in English, prior to arriving at the U.S. Embassy for their visa interviews.  Applicants who arrive at the embassy with incomplete forms, or with forms that contain answers in a language other than English, will be given a ticket and asked to return the following workday after correcting their forms online.

The new procedure, which represents stricter enforcement of existing worldwide regulations, was announced by consular officials at an embassy press conference on December 19, and will be repeated in public service announcements over the next two weeks.

Regarding the requirement to complete all of the required fields, Deputy Consul General Mark Seibel explained that only a handful of questions in the current form are labeled as “optional.”  For those questions only, fields may be left blank.  For all other questions, applicants must submit answers in order for their applications to be accepted by embassy registration officials.  If a question does not apply to a particular applicant, such as in the case of a Salvadoran minor who is not yet eligible for a national identification number (DUI), applicants may enter “does not apply.”

Regarding the requirement to complete the visa application form in English, the online CEAC application includes an electronic translator in the upper right hand corner of the screen to assist applicants in translating the questions into several languages, including Spanish.  As Seibel noted, the majority of visa application questions require only short answers.  For those questions that require longer answers, such as explaining the purpose of travel or describing an applicant’s job, embassy officials will accept reasonable English translations, even if they are not grammatically correct.

Applicants are reminded that despite the requirement for written English in the online application, visa interviews will still be conducted in Spanish.  The embassy does not support or recommend the use of outside services to complete the online application.  Applicants are solely responsible for the content of their visa applications.