When will US embassies reopen in India after Covid-19?

What is the official position right now?

On 16th March 2020, the US embassies and consulates across India closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, they described it as a necessary precautionary measure and said they would reopen as soon as it was safe to do so. That was three months ago. As of 21st June 2020, there has been no follow-up announcement — nothing on their official website, nothing on their official Twitter account. When I reached out directly for clarification, this is the response I received: 'Unfortunately, we do not have an estimated time when services will resume. As soon as services are scheduled to resume, we will post an announcement to our website. We do recommend those interested in visa services to monitor that site for any news.' So the honest answer is: there is no date. There is no timeline. And that is straight from the embassy itself.

Is India an isolated case, or is this happening everywhere?

It helps to zoom out and look at the global picture, because India is not alone in this. As of June 2020, the US embassy and consulate has not resumed visa services in any country in the world. A handful of countries — like the Dominican Republic — have recently announced that they plan to restart services soon, but nothing has officially begun anywhere yet. In Thailand, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did reopen their offices in June, but that office handles a different set of cases. The embassy and consulate operations that deal with non-immigrant visas and student visas remain closed there too. What this tells me is that the US embassies and consulates are taking a very cautious, country-by-country approach. How quickly they reopen in any given place will depend on the local pandemic situation and the restrictions on international travel — not on a single global timeline. It is also worth noting that as of June 2020, regular international flights into the US have not resumed. The only flights currently operating into the US from abroad are those evacuating American citizens who were stranded overseas.

When do I think visa interviews will realistically resume in India?

I want to be honest with you here, even if it is not what you want to hear. Looking at the coronavirus situation in India in June 2020, and the fact that no country has yet restarted visa services, my personal estimate is that you should not expect anything before September or October 2020 at the earliest. This is my own opinion, not an official position — but I think it is a realistic one. I know how difficult it is to sit with that uncertainty, so let me give you something more actionable depending on your situation.