US visa pause: What happens to your appointment and application fee

The US government confirmed that applicants affected by the visa appointment pause will not receive a refund of their application fees
Appointment scheduling is set to resume once the pause is lifted, and affected applicants will be notified of their new dates
Nonimmigrant visa application fees remain valid for 365 days from the date the receipt was issued, with conditions on when interviews can hold

Travellers whose US visa appointments were disrupted by the ongoing scheduling pause will not get their money back, according to guidance from the US government.

Officials confirmed that refunds are not available for affected appointments.

Applicants impacted by the US visa appointment disruption were told their fees remained valid and their interviews were rescheduled once services resumed. — US officials confirmed that visa applicants affected by the scheduling pause were not refunded. Photo credit: AndrewHanick/GettyImages
Source: Getty Images

Instead, once the pause is lifted, the scheduling system will reopen and applicants whose appointments were cancelled or disrupted will be rebooked automatically.

Those applicants will receive a notification when their new appointment has been arranged.

How the fee validity period works

For nonimmigrant visa applicants, the application fee remains valid for 365 days from the date the payment receipt was issued. This means applicants have up to one year from that date to schedule their interview appointment.

However, the 365-day window applies specifically to the scheduling of the appointment, not to when the interview must take place. An interview can go ahead after the 365-day period has passed, provided that the appointment was booked before that deadline expired.

This distinction is particularly relevant for applicants caught by the pause, as the delay caused by the suspension is outside their control. As long as they are able to schedule within the valid window once the pause ends, they remain eligible to proceed with their visa process.

What applicants should do now

Applicants are advised to hold on to their payment receipts and monitor official US embassy or consulate communications for updates on when scheduling will resume. No action is required in the interim, as the rescheduling process will be handled by the relevant authorities once normal operations restart.

The guidance makes clear that the pause is temporary and that applicants will not lose their fees as a result of the disruption, provided they take up the rescheduled appointment when it is offered.

US suspends visa issuance to 19 countries

Legit.ng earlier reported that the United States government has announced a major shift in its visa policy, fully suspending visa issuance to nationals of 19 countries and imposing partial restrictions on 19 others, bringing the total number of affected countries to 39.

Source: Legit.ng

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