US Visa Appointment in London: Wait Times and How to Book (2026)

TL;DR

You cannot book a US visa interview in London until the DS-160 is submitted. Register at ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb, pay the $185 visa fee inside that account, then take an available date. In the 21 July 2026 Global Visa Wait Times update, London's next B1/B2 slot was about 2 months out. Expedite requests are made inside the account and reviewed by a consular officer.

How booking actually works

The order matters, and it catches people out. The embassy's nonimmigrant visa page puts the DS-160 first: complete it online and print the confirmation page for every applicant. Only then do you go to ais.usvisa-info.com/en-gb to pay the $185 visa fee and schedule the interview.

Appointments are booked and managed only through that site. There is no separate phone line that releases dates, and no third party that can place you in the queue for you. If our prepared-for-you service books for you, we do it in your own account on the official site, sitting with you.

Two rules decide whether your booking survives contact with the door:

• The DS-160 must be signed and submitted at least 2 business days before the appointment.
• The DS-160 number in the scheduling account must match the number on the confirmation page you carry. If it does not, you are refused entry and the appointment has to be rebooked.

Visa fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, so check names, passport numbers and dates before you pay. Our DS-160 form guide covers the fields that most often need a second look.

The wait in London right now

The State Department publishes Global Visa Wait Times and refreshes them monthly. In the 21 July 2026 update, the next available B1/B2 visitor visa interview in London was about 2 months out.

That is a dated observation, not a promise. The number moves with each monthly update, and our desk logs the current figure every month. Read it as a planning aid: if you need to travel in eight weeks, start now rather than assuming a date will appear. Book the interview before you book anything that cannot be changed.

If you need an earlier date

Expedited appointment requests are made from inside your account on the scheduling site, and a consular officer reviews each request. That is the whole route. Nobody outside the consular section can grant one, and we recommend treating any offer to do so as a reason to walk away.

Keep the date you already hold while a request is under review. A confirmed later date is worth more than an unconfirmed earlier one.

London or Belfast

The embassy in London handles nonimmigrant visas, and a consulate in Belfast also handles them. You choose when you schedule. In our experience the practical question is travel on the morning: a date you can reach calmly beats a slightly earlier one that depends on a first train running to time. Arriving late can cancel the appointment.

The day itself

The embassy's interview page sets out the rules, and they are strict.

• Arrive no more than 30 minutes before your appointment time. You will not be admitted earlier, and arriving late can cancel the appointment.
• Expect to be there 2 to 3 hours. Interviews are by appointment only.
• Three stages: you submit the application form, your fingerprints are scanned, then you are interviewed by a consular officer.
• Security is airport style. No laptops, no bags above cabin size, and there is no storage. Keep belongings to a minimum.
• A mobile phone may be brought in but may not be used at any stage.

Bring the printed DS-160 confirmation page. The full list is in our guide to documents for UK residents, and the Bundler and Compressor will get the file into shape before you print it.

Before and after the appointment

Read the pillar guide to the US visitor visa from the UK if you are not yet sure you need a visa at all, and our London interview guide for what the officer tends to ask. If the answer is no, what a 214(b) refusal means explains the one route that exists: reapply with a new fee and a new DS-160, showing what has changed. The consular officer alone decides, on the day.

Ready to start? Our plan step asks a few questions and tells you where you stand before you pay anything.

Prefer someone to do the paperwork? Our prepared-for-you US visitor visa service completes the DS-160 with you, builds your document pack, books the interview with you on the official site and gives you a written interview brief, for a £129 service fee. You pay the $185 visa fee yourself and attend the interview.