US Embassy cancels visa interviews until June 11 due to Metro Manila quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Due to community quarantine measures imposed in Metro Manila to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the US Embassy on Thursday announced that it has canceled all immigrant and non-immigrant visa interviews until June 11.

In a statement, the US Embassy said that it would resume visa services “as soon as possible,” but it was not able to provide a specific date.

Metro Manila, known to be the national epicenter for the country’s COVID-19 outbreaks, is currently under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until May 31.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the government’s COVID-19 task force, has recommended to ease lockdown measures in the metro starting June 1, as earlier announced by Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año.

The US Embassy said that once the community quarantine is lifted in Metro Manila, all affected applicants should reschedule their interviews either by calling +63 (2) 7792-8988 or +63 (2) 8548-8223, or through the online appointment system at ustraveldocs.com/ph. 

“There is no fee to change an appointment and visa application fees are valid for one year in the country  where the fee was paid,” the embassy said.

As of Thursday, the Philippines had 15,588 COVID-19 cases, with 3,598 recoveries while 921 have died.