JEDDAH: The US Consulate in Jeddah announced yesterday that it would resume “partial nonimmigrant visa services.”
“The Consulate General will be able to process a maximum of 300 applications per month, which represents about 10 percent of the traditional caseload in Jeddah,” said a consulate statement.
US officials will be available four days per month to conduct interviews for King Abdullah Scholarship Program recipients, exchange visitors on government-sponsored international programs, diplomats and Saudi government officials traveling on official business and employees of and representatives to international organizations. The interviews will take place on Sundays and Mondays.
The reinstatement of full service is contingent on the opening of the new consulate building in Jeddah, expected to be completed in the first half of next year.
Saudi students should be particularly happy about this change, which is expected to make it easier for those who plan ahead and budget enough time to obtain one of the interviews locally.
“Hopefully now I don’t need to travel to Riyadh and book myself in a hotel so that I don’t lose my interview,” said Mohammad Abdul Aziz, who will be studying in the US. US visa services in Jeddah have been closed since an attack on the consulate in December 2004 that killed five locally hired consular employees.
