I had applied for a VISA for USA. During application, I'd given my dates of travel. However, my VISA was issued hours after the scheduled departure of my flight due to which I had to reschedule the flight, incurring a significant monetary loss. I'm an Indian citizen and it was a conference VISA, if that's important. Is there any way I can ask/seek for compensation? Do VISA services of other countries fall under consumer forum laws?
2 Answers
No
A government performing the functions of government (like issuing a visa) is not in a contractural relationship with the person they are doing it for so there is no basis in contract law for such a suit.
It might be arguable that they were negligent, however, first they would have to agree to be sued as they have sovereign immunity, secondly you would need to prove that they owed you a duty of care which I am far from sure they do and thirdly you would need to prove that they breached it which I don't think they did.
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As for the individual consular officers, this is literally one of the primary reasons consular officers have official acts immunity.– cpastFeb 16, 2016 at 21:45
No. If you need a Visa, don't travel until you have it. The government is not bound to process requests within a certain time frame. Whatever time frame you were provided was in good faith. In my experience they usually beat their own estimate.