U.S.A. Visa Group Appointment Procedure in China

Group appointments can be scheduled for the U.S. nonimmigrant visa as long as some conditions are met.

Group appointments are suitable for a troupe of performers going to tour and perform in the U.S., athletic teams, pilots or skilled workers traveling to participate in training, or student groups.

Please note that each person in the group must individually meet the requirements of the visa and that visas are not automatically guaranteed to anyone. Rules for whether any given person in the group needs to appear for an interview or not are the same as individual appointments. Those members of the group who qualify through drop box can still use it.

Eligibility

You are eligible for a group appointment for a U.S. nonimmigrant visa if:

• You have at least 15 or more persons in the group. Groups of less than 15 people are not eligible for a group appointment.
• You are traveling together
• You have the same purpose of travel
• You have the same time and duration of travel

How to Apply

1. A designated group coordinator should visit the online appointment system and click on ‘Group Scheduling Request’.
   
   Make sure to include detailed information about the nature of the group’s travel plans. If you have any preferred date(s) to schedule your group interview, write that information in the ‘Reason for Travel’ field.
   
   If any of the group members are applying based on an approved I-797 petition (such as an H-2A, H-2B, or H-3 visa), the group coordinator must upload a legible copy of the approved I-797 as part of the request.
   
   Such a request cannot be submitted through an agent.
   
   After submitting the request, you must wait until you get a response from the U.S. Embassy or Consulate by email from [email protected] Make sure to white list this email to avoid the risk of the response going to the spam or junk mail folder. Until you get such a response, do not add any group members or dependents.
   
   
2. Once you receive an email approving the request, the group leader should schedule appointments for each group member within seven days. To schedule an appointment at the same day and time, add group members as “dependents” while completing the appointment request. The system will show times at which there are enough appointments available to accommodate everyone.
   
   Call center staff can’t make group appointments, but they can help with questions.
   
   
3. Each group member must pay the visa application fee. If the group is making a bulk fee payment, you will receive only one receipt number per transaction, which can be used for multiple group members.
   
   
4. Each group member must complete Form DS-160.
   
   
5. The group coordinator should visit his/her profile at the online appointment system and click on ‘Group Scheduling Request’.
   
   The following information would be required for each group member:
   • Passport with their full name, passport number, birth date, passport expiration date, and other information in the passport biographical page.
     
     
   • Visa application fee receipt number.
     
     
   • The 10-digit bar code number from the DS-160 confirmation page.
     
     
6. The group coordinator should select the approved group appointment request. If the group coordinator schedules appointments for more than one group, the correct group must be selected.
   
   
7. Each group member should be added as a ‘Dependent’ to the group coordinator’s profile. It is not necessary for the group coordinator to be a member of the group. If any group member has already scheduled an individual appointment, he/she can’t be part of the group and must attend an individual interview.
   
   
8. The group visits the U.S. Embassy or Consulate on the date and time of the visa interview. Each group member must have all of the documents.