General Information
All visa interviews at the U.S. Consulate General in Calgary are handled on an appointment basis only. Individuals seeking general information about U.S. visas or needing to schedule a visa appointment may do so either online or by calling (403) 800-1194 (calling from the Calgary area), (877) 341-2441 (from elsewhere in Canada), or (703) 439-2319 (from the United States). There are no service fees or toll charges for using the online or telephone services beyond standard applicable data and phone connection fees. An online visa application must be completed and required visa application fees must be paid before an appointment can be scheduled.
In general, all applicants must appear in person for the visa interview at which time, in addition to an interview, the consular officer will digitally capture the fingerprints of applicants aged 14 - 79. Under very limited circumstances the personal appearance requirement may be waived (medical emergencies for example) but the applicant must still be physically present in the district where the application is submitted. In the case of applicants under 14 years of age, a parent or guardian must appear in person or accompany the child to the interview.
Consulate Calgary does not issue visas for pick-up on the same day as the appointment. All passports with visas will be returned to the applicant via courier. The courier service is provided through DHL, at no additional cost to the applicant when the passport is picked-up by the applicant at the DHL location of their choosing. Learn more about passport pick-up and the options for home delivery. Additionally, depending on the applicable processes and requirements for the visa type, the applicant may need to submit additional documents to the consular section, and this can also add to the time required to return the passport and approved visa.
Visa applications that need more administrative processing can expect the visa process to take several weeks, and in some cases, several months. Processing time may vary. To avoid not getting a visa in time for your scheduled departure to the United States, you should make your appointment well in advance of your planned departure.
