What You Should Anticipate on the Day of your Interview

You should arrive at the U.S. Consulate at your scheduled appointment time.  For directions, please click here. Visitor parking is located at the intersection of Khalifa Bin Zayed Road and Al Seef Road; however, applicants can expect to wait until the early afternoon for their visa interviews and should plan accordingly.  Generally, only the visa applicant will be admitted to the Consulate.  Minor children who must appear for an interview can have one parent or legal guardian accompany them.  As the weather in Dubai is currently hot and humid, we encourage friends or family members not applying for visas to wait for their loved ones in a safe and comfortable location. 

Applicants will not be allowed to enter the Consulate with electronic devices, including mobile telephones.  To proceed through the Consulate's security checks as quickly as possible, please do NOT bring any large bags, cell phones, computers, or other electronic devices with you to the Consulate on the day of your appointment.  Please leave these items at home or in your car.  Every effort is made to interview applicants in the order in which they arrive at the Consulate.  Complete and accurate application materials will decrease waiting times for most applicants.

When you enter the Consulate General, your application documents will be examined and entered into the computer system. You will be given a number and then proceed to a window for fingerprinting and afterwards asked to have a seat. Different applications require different amounts of processing time, so numbers are not called in numerical order.

Once your number is called for your interview, a Consular Officer will speak with you about your intended travel and review any additional documents that the officer requests. An average interview will last for approximately 3-5 minutes.

At the end of your interview, the Consular Officer will tell you that your application is:

• Approved;
• Pending, contingent on you providing additional information;
• Pending, contingent on administrative processing; or
• Refused.

We advise that you do not make any non-refundable travel arrangements until the visa has been issued in your passport.