US extends visa by mail for Vietnamese citizens

The U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City has announced the expansion of the Visa Renewal by Mail Program to facilitate Vietnamese citizens applying for non-immigrant visa renewals.

Mr. David McCawley and Ms. Sara Michael announce new visa extension program

Effective April 1, the newly expanded US Visa Renewal by Mail program in Vietnam allows visas that have expired for up to 48 months, double the previous period, to benefit from the program. The program allows applicants to renew their nonimmigrant visas via express mail, most of which do not require an in-person interview.

Senior Consular Representative in Vietnam David McCawley and Chief of Nonimmigrant Visas at the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City Sara Michael said that nonimmigrant visas of types E, H, L, P or R must be valid or expired (but not more than 12 months) and can be renewed by mail.

Other nonimmigrant visas that are still valid or have expired less than 48 months ago may be renewed by mail.

Before the program took effect on April 1, only applicants with nonimmigrant visas that had expired less than 24 months ago could take advantage of the Mail-in Visa Renewal Program.

Visa renewals applied for by regular mail are processed and returned to the applicant within 6-8 working days.

At the same time, the senior representative of the US Consulate in Vietnam warned that the US Embassy in Hanoi and the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City never work with third parties in processing visas, so applicants should directly declare and complete visa application procedures, and should not rely entirely on service companies.

According to Infonet