(CNN Spanish) — The US Embassy in Colombia also recommends citizens of Latin American countries B-1/ B-2 visas Start the renewal process two years before their documents expire.

“You don’t have to wait to renew your visa until it expires. We recommend doing it in advance and starting the process two years before it expires. As long as it’s still valid, you can use your old visa while waiting for your renewal appointment,” A press release from the embassy said Generated dozens of questions on their social networks.

In December, the US government had already warned that there could be a “significant delay” between the time you pay the document processing fee and the time you are scheduled for an appointment due to a “growing backlog” of requests for visa appointments. “By paying the visa fee, you acknowledge that it may take several months to schedule an interview appointment.” Official information says.

If you have scheduled an appointment and You need to check that there is no earlier date Available, you need to login to the account you created for the process on the page https://ais.usvisa-info.com/, select “Continue” and select “Reschedule Appointment”. There you can see the available dates and if you want to make changes, confirm it. If you want to keep a date that you already have, you need to choose the “Close” option.

Tips for US Visa Renewal Process

A recommendation for those starting the renewal process is to already have a list of all international destinations visited in the last five years and the last five trips to the US (including stopovers) at the start of the process.

They will also ask you the dates of upcoming trips without reservation about your plans.

According to the government, it is not recommended that you attempt to start the process in another country, as most embassies and consultancies have limited resources and prioritize the requests of citizens of the country where they are located.

Remember that B-1 and B-2 visas are visitor visas for travelers coming to the United States for business (B-1), tourism/vacation (B-2), or a combination of the two. In 2019, before the pandemic, the United States issued 5,297,439 B-1 and B-2 visas.