RIYADH: Beginning Feb. 8, the US missions in the Kingdom will require a new consular form in order to process visa applications, the US Embassy in Riyadh announced here, on Saturday.
The US Embassy in Riyadh and its consulates in Jeddah and Dhahran will require applicants for tourist, student and other nonimmigrant visas to use the new online visa application, Form DS-160.
“The use of the new online application eliminates the need to print an entire application for each traveler and bring it to the Consular Section at the time of the interview,” Consul General Daniel Goodspeed of the US Embassy said.
A statement from the mission in Riyadh said that all those who wished to make visa appointments via the online appointment system in the Kingdom must fill out Form DS-160, as they will be asked for the DS-160 confirmation numbers for every applicant at the time they book their appointment date.
People who have their appointments on or after Feb. 4, do not need to rebook their appointments, but they must use Form DS-160 for their application.
The new system is being implemented at all US missions in other parts of the world as a means of improving efficiency and ensuring applicants arrive for appointments with forms that have been correctly filled in, the embassy said.
The new online visa form is available at the US State Department website. The new interactive form provides Arabic translations for each question so as to assist applicants as they fill out the form.
Goodspeed said all consular posts would move to this new system within the next two months.
“This is particularly important here in Saudi Arabia, where we are eager to increase the number of Saudi citizens visiting the US. We welcome them,” he noted.
“Currently over 96 percent of Saudi citizens applying for temporary visit visas are approved and we are able to provide visas to our customers more rapidly than in previous years. We believe the implementation of the new DS-160 will prove to be a user-friendly process that facilitates the travel of people wishing to visit America.”
With the new form, the applicant will be required to upload a visa photograph and to submit the form via the Internet. The applicant will print only a confirmation page upon completion of each Form DS-160.
“If applicants arrive for their interviews without this page, they will not be permitted to enter the embassy or consulate for their visa applications.”
The other required supporting documents for the applications include visa fee receipt from SAMBA, job letter, bank statement, transcripts, 1-20 and SEVIS receipt.
