Information for visa applicants about the current state of visa services: The U.S. Mission to Kazakhstan understands that many non-immigrant visa applicants have paid the visa application processing fee and are waiting to schedule a visa appointment. We restored all routine visa operations on December 2, 2020. For non-immigrant visa receipts valid on or after March 19, 2020 or purchased between March 19, 2020 and December 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of State extended the validity of your payment (known as the MRV fee) until December 31, 2021, to allow all applicants who were unable to schedule a visa appointment as a result of the suspension of routine consular operations an opportunity to schedule and/or attend a visa appointment with the already paid fee. Fees paid on or after December 2, 2020 are valid for one year from the date of payment.
Immigrant Visas: The Consulate General in Almaty is processing immigrant visa cases for all visa categories.
The National Visa Center (NVC) and Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) are scheduling interview appointments for new immigrant visa cases. U.S. Consulate General Almaty continues to contact applicants for K visas whose cases have been received from NVC with instructions for scheduling interview appointments.
The Embassy and Consulate General are also accepting appointment requests from boarding foil and returning resident permit applicants. To request an appointment for these services, please contact USAKZ@state.gov
Diversity Visa (DV) 2021 Applicants: DV applicants for DV-2021 who were not issued visas before September 30, 2021, will not be interviewed, scheduled, or reconsidered for visas, as those applicants were only eligible for issuance of a visa through the end of the 2021 fiscal year, which ended on September 30, 2021.
Nonimmigrant Visas: The United States Embassy in Nur-Sultan and U.S. Consulate General in Almaty are providing all nonimmigrant visa services.
Visa renewals by interview waiver: The U.S. Embassy in Nur-Sultan and U.S. Consulate General in Almaty are accepting interview waiver applications for qualifying renewal applicants in certain visa categories, including B1/B2. Until December 31, 2021, individuals with a currently valid visa or whose visa expired within the last 48 months may submit an interview waiver renewal application. Click here for more information.
While the Embassy and Consulate aim to process cases as soon as practicable, there is likely to be increased wait times for completing such services due to substantial backlogs. Information about non-immigrant visa wait times for Kazakhstani citizens and residents is available here. Important Note: In order to provide priority visa service to citizens and residents of Kazakhstan, separate, limited appointment slots are allocated for nonresident applicants. The visa appointment wait time published on travel.state.gov does not represent the wait time for non-resident categories. The non-resident wait time significantly exceeds the wait time shown there. Applicants are reminded that MRV fees are non-refundable, non-transferable, and are only valid for one year from the date of payment. If you are unable to schedule an appointment within a year of payment then your receipt will expire, you will not be able to schedule an interview, and you must pay the fee again and begin the process anew.