Program For Expedited Review of E Visas for Large Multinational Employers Ended At U.S. Embassy In Paris

French nationals who are applying for E visas should anticipate delays in adjudication at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, due to its elimination of expedited review services for certain French multinational corporations that regularly transfer French managers, supervisors, and essential skill employees to the U.S. This expedited program was known as the Golden Arrow. 

According to the Embassy, all E visa applications will have to submit their E visa applications electronically for review before a visa interview will be scheduled.  This change in procedure is effective March 12, 2018. Historically, only smaller companies that do not regularly transfer French employees were subject to this preliminary review, which usually takes six to eight weeks to complete from the time the application is electronically submitted.  Now that all companies must have their applications pre-adjudicated, it is likely that the review process will take longer for interviews to be scheduled. For this reason, employers should identify those transferees who were planning to apply for E visas, and they should work with immigration counsel to assess whether there are other visa solutions that could reduce the timeframe for employees to apply for and obtain work authorized visas.