All About OFC Appointment for a US Student Visa

The following are the steps to schedule an OFC appointment US visa:

To reschedule, click on “Change your appointment” instead of “Schedule an appointment”.

The following documents are required for scheduling an OFC appointment. You need to bring the hard copies of these documents for the appointment. 

• Your passport
• Appointment confirmation copy
• The stamped DS-160 form
• Visa application fee receipt

There is no separate fee required to be paid for an OFC appointment. The visa fee you pay includes the OFC appointment fee as well.

The OFC fingerprinting and visa photo processing are the stages of US admission involving the OFC. Collecting biometric data at the OFC involves a very simple process of scanning your fingerprints. You are required to submit your documents there.

Your photos will be captured at the office for verification and documentation purposes. The next step after data submission at the OFC is the visa interview. You will be visiting the OFC once again after the visa interview to collect your passport.

An Offsite Facilitation Center has strict security rules since it deals with bulk personal data. You will not be allowed to take your bag or smartphone inside.

The process is very simple and is handled by a third-party company, and there will be no US embassy officials. 

• Ensure that the details you submit are perfect. A small mistake, such as a slight variation of home address in your passport and D160 form, your surname in all but one document, etc., will lead to your visa getting canceled.  
• There will be select dates for OFC appointments. So you can expect a small crowd on the day, and plan to reach on time.

In India the major metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata have OFCs. The applicants can select the nearest center.  

The following table shows the address of Offset Facilitation Centers in India.

After the OFC appointment there will be a visa consulate interview, where you will be interviewed by an official from the US embassy. The applicants must schedule the interview waiver appointment earlier. It is to be noted that the applicant schedules in-person interview prior to the OFC appointment.

Important things to remember:

In addition to the information provided before, you must be aware of the following things regarding an OFC appointment:

• Your OFC appointment can be scheduled only when your visa interview is scheduled.
• You will not be able to attend your visa interview until you present the required documents, biometrics and the photos taken at the OFC.
• Double-check all the required documents before visiting the OFC center. If you fail to furnish the required documents, you will not be allowed to enter the facility and you will have to reschedule your appointment.

The US student visa interview is the final checkpoint a student needs to get through to successfully travel to the US for studies. Therefore, acing the visa interview should be a top priority. 

GyanDhan has cherry-picked experts including those who worked in the US visa consulates for several decades. Having taken countless visa interviews, they have an immense understanding of the in-and-out of the visa interviews. These experts will assist you with the mock interviews, give you feedback and tips, prepare your profile, and help you in slot booking.

Visa counseling, which is otherwise an expensive affair, will be provided to you at discounted prices through GyanDhan! So contact GyanDhan and significantly increase your chances of getting your US visa approved.

To schedule an OFC appointment, you need the following documents:

• Your passport
• Appointment confirmation copy
• The stamped DS-160 form
• Visa application fee receipt

You must bring the hard copies of these documents .

OFC is elaborated as Offset Facilitation Center. Collects the biometric data and other relevant documents of an applicant prior to the visa consulate interview.

The following are the steps to schedule an OFC appointment:

There is no additional fee for an OFC appointment. It is included within the visa fee.

You can reschedule the appointment after 24 hours from the earlier date. You can reschedule the appointment if any inconvenience arises. 

The OFC appointment and visa interview are not the same. OFC appointment is to collect the necessary data. The visa interview is the next step after the OFC appointment.