Due to long delays for US Visa Interviews at Dublin’s Ballsbridge Embassy, people from the Republic of Ireland who are seeking quick travel to the United States for work or education are having to head to Belfast to attend their visa interviews.
To acquire a US Work or Study Visa, The United States embassies ask applicants to submit their documents to embassy officials before inviting the applicant to attend a face-to-face interview.
According to the US Embassy website, the “wait times for services may be longer.”
With staff working through a backlog of up to two years of applications which could not be processed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Therefore, people from the republic seeking a Work/Study US visa are travelling to Belfast to attend their interview in order to avoid the ‘extended visa interview wait times.’ Applicants are further required to travel back to Northern Ireland to collect their application documents, eg passport or arrange for somebody to collect the documents on their behalf.
A spokesperson from the US Embassy in Dublin stated that “As demand for interview appointments remains very high, available appointments get taken quickly.”
Adding that, “We recommend prospective travellers continue to check our online scheduling system regularly. We are frequently adding appointment capacity to accommodate this high demand.”
