US embassy retooling visa appointment process

The United States is set to introduce a customer- friendly visa application process for intending Bangladeshi visitors from next week saying the new system will simplify interview appointment scheduling, fee collection, and visa pickup, reports BSS.
"Starting September 14, 2014, the United States Embassy, Dhaka, will improve the way applicants apply for visas," the embassy said in a statement.
The announcement came coinciding with the visit of US acting assistant secretary of state for consular affairs Michele Thoren Bond while it said applicants would be able to apply for their visas through "a new, customer-friendly website, www.USTravelDocs.com/bd".
Speaking at a press briefing to announce the decision, Bond said the US Embassy in Dhaka "is retooling the visa appointment process and finding new ways to share information with our customers".
"In an effort to provide better service to our customers, we have made several changes in the visa appointment process and in how we provide information to the public," she said.
The visiting US official said, ''Very soon all Bangladeshis, after completing their visa applications online, will also schedule their visa interview appointments online, with clear instructions in both Bangla and English.They will be able to pay their application fees at select HSBC locations throughout Bangladesh, and will pick up their passports at Saimon Oversees Ltd. centers in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.
And, they will be able to obtain information from our new call centre from 8 am to 8 pm Sunday through Thursday and have access to a US-based call centre 24 hours a day from Monday - Friday.''
"The call centres will provide travellers with technical assistance in applying for visas and making their interview appointments," Bond added.
The embassy statement supplemented Bond saying, it will also be more convenient for applicants to pay their visa fees.
The statement said the applicants now could pay in cash in dollars or taka, and would receive a fee receipt valid for one year.
It said as of August 31, Standard Chartered is no longer providing fee receipts but applicants who purchased a Standard Chartered fee receipt less than one year ago may still use that fee receipt to apply for a visa.
"All fee receipts, whether from HSBC or Standard Chartered, are valid for one year," it said.
Bdnews24.com adds: Bond said about 70,000 people applied last year and of them more than 30,000 were granted entry.
She said with the increasing number of visa applicants, the visa issuance rate had also gone up.
The US ambassador Dan Mozena at the press briefing said student visa applicants had also gone up.
This year the US has granted visa to about 2,000 students, a figure similar to the number issued last year. It was 1,300 in 2012.
The ambassador said half a million Bangladeshis were currently living in the US.
Bond came to Dhaka on Saturday on a four-day visit.