Q: What consular services are currently being offered by the US Embassy during COVID-19?

A: The US Embassy consular section resumed some limited services on October 5. We are confident the plans we have in place will be sustainable for the safety of our staff and visitors, and work within permissible guidelines.

All visitors to the embassy must comply with the Ministry of Health and Wellness guidelines. If you arrived in Jamaica within the last 14 days or have been instructed by the Ministry of Health to quarantine, you must complete this requirement before you can visit the embassy.

American Citizen Services (ACS)

ACS continues to provide emergency assistance to US citizens, assist US citizens with voting, and is accepting appointments for limited routine services. US citizens who require emergency assistance should contact the embassy at (876) 702-6000. If you have urgent travel and your passport has expired, please call the embassy during business hours or e-mail KingstonACS@state.gov for an appointment.

For assistance with voting, please visit our website for information on how to vote from Jamaica. We recommend returning absentee ballots as soon as possible. Contact VoteKingston@state.gov if you need assistance.

Passport appointments can be scheduled on our website. We remind US citizens to register for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov to receive timely updates about local conditions and to provide us with your contact information in case of emergency.

Immigrant Visa (IV) Unit

A limited number of mission-critical interview appointments for spouses and children of US citizens are being offered at this time. We are also opening a small number of K-1 (fiancé) appointments each week, consistent with our current COVID-19 posture and Department of State guidelines. K-1 appointments are currently first-come, first-served, and may be scheduled online, if available. Should no appointments be available, please continue to check for future available appointments.

For previously scheduled IV appointments that were cancelled, and whose visa class is not impacted by Presidential Proclamation 10014, we expect to be able to reschedule those appointments in the coming weeks.

Non-Immigrant Visa (NIV) Unit

Interview waiver renewals for individuals who were previously issued a full-validity B1/B2 visa that is either still valid or expired less than 24 months ago are now being processed. Individuals aged 80 or over, or younger than 14 years of age, may also qualify for a waiver of interview.

Eligibility for an interview waiver will be determined as an applicant goes through the process of scheduling an appointment online. We also understand that many visa applicants have paid the visa application processing fee (known as the MRV fee) and are still waiting to schedule a visa appointment. As we are unable to offer routine visa operations at this time, please note that the validity of your payment is extended until December 31, 2021, to allow applicants who were unable to schedule a visa appointment as a result of the suspension of routine consular operations an opportunity to schedule an appointment.

You can find more information about American Citizen Services and consular operations on our website, jm.usembassy.gov/ Keep on top of embassy news on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/USEmbassyJamaica/ and by following @USEmbassyJA on Twitter . We also answer general questions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.