Can I Transfer My Visa Application to Another Consulate?

It is generally not possible to transfer your DS160 application/visa petition from one Consulate to another, unless the Consulates are located in one country and they specifically confirmed that you can attend an appointment at a different location than you originally selected on your DS-160 application.

Especially since the Covid-19 global pandemic started, many of our clients have been wondering whether it’s possible to transfer their visa petition from a Consulate in one country to Consulate in a different country.

As a general rule of thumb, the DS-160 petition and the visa fee are usually paid and tied to a particular U.S. Consulate. If one country has multiple U.S. Consulates (e.g. Mexico or India), it may allow you to attend interview at a different Consulate than the one you originally selected on the DS-160 petition, but you always have to double check with that particular Consulate first if this would be possible (Consulates may or may not allow this).

For example, if you originally submitted the DS-160 petition & supporting documentation for your B-1/B-2 visa petition to Mexico City, but you now want to attend an appointment in Guadalaraja, you should reach out to the Consulate in Guadalaraja if this can be done.

On the other hand, if you would like to “transfer” your DS-160 application and visa petition (such as for example E-2, L-1, O-1) to a Consulate in a different country, this will most likely not possible. You will need to submit a new DS-160 petition, pay a new visa fee and submit a new visa application at Consulate where you now want to apply at.

For example, you are applying for an E-2 visa. and you originally submitted a DS-160 petition and your investor petition in London, UK as you are a UK citizen. You would now like to apply for an E-2 visa at the Consulate in Switzerland because your friend obtained an E2 visa there in 3 months, and you have been waiting for your interview appointment for 6 months now in London. You are wondering if you can reach out to the Consulate in London and just ask them to transfer your petition to the Consulate in Switzerland. The short answer is: no.

In this case, not only you will have to submit new form DS-160 and pay the visa fee , but you will also have to review the Consulate in Switzerland’s website to see what are their requirements on how to submit an E-2 visa petition.

Additionally, prior to COVID, many Consulates were accepting visa petitions of third country nationals, but unfortunately currently, almost all Consulates stopped doing that. This means, that currently the Consulate would not even process your application.