Contact information for U.S. Visa Information Call Centre, appointment system and Website
The U.S Embassy's self-service website to schedule a visa appointment or to obtain information on how to apply for a visa becomes operational on Wednesday, November 19. The website address is www.usvisa-jamaica.com and there is a USD$10.00 charge for the service, payable by Visa or MasterCard, through the website. This service is available 24 hours a day/seven days a week.
Also beginning Wednesday, November 19, the embassy's telephone Call Center can be reached by dialing 1-800-572-7780, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. local time except on Jamaican and U.S. holidays.
For USD $13.00, the caller will receive eight minutes of call time with an agent to schedule a visa appointment or to obtain information on how to apply for a visa. Over the phone, the fee is payable by Visa or MasterCard. Cash payments for a PIN allowing eight minutes with an agent can be made at any NCB branch. The PIN will be activated the next business day.
Embassy of the United States, Kingston, Jamaica: Visa Processing Improvements
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The New Procedures
Q. Walk us through the process. When do you fill out your application form? When do you pay NCB? When and where do you buy the Personal Identification Number (PIN) to call CSC?
A. Following are three different examples: Anthony, Barbara, and Christopher.
Anthony has a credit card (Mastercard or Visa) and has access to a computer. On Wednesday, November 19, he gets the appointment scheduling address from the U.S. Embassy's website (http://kingston.usembassy.gov/ ). He visits the CSC appointment scheduling website ( www.usvisa-jamaica.com ), pays the
US$10.00 fee directly to the website using his credit card, reads and absorbs the pertinent information on the site, and then schedules his appointment date. From the same CSC website, there is a link to the Electronic Visa Application Form (EVAF). Anthony fills it out online and prints out a hard copy to take to the interview. He then goes to the nearest NCB branch, takes advantage of the Express Service line, and pays his US$131.00 Visa Application Fee and obtains a receipt. Then he goes to the embassy at the right time on the day of his scheduled appointment, is met by the uniformed greeters, and has his interview. (more)
Obama Foreign Policy May Be Rooted in Multilateral Diplomacy
Washington – When Barack Obama takes the oath of office January 20, 2009, a new American approach to foreign policy may be in the works. But change will not come immediately, a political analyst says.
For the Obama administration, there is “potential for making real progress” in foreign policy, Stephen Flanagan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told journalists at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center November 4.
Although “the expectations are enormously high,” Flanagan said, there is a “limit to how quickly things can change, given, already, that the new president is saddled immediately with whatever the state of the global financial crisis is, still two major military operations overseas, [and] a great deal of other priorities at home that are demanding attention.” (more)
