It wasn’t too long ago that Facebook Messenger started to support chat bots. So far we’ve seen it used for all kinds of things, like booking restaurants, flights, and so on. However it seems that there is a new bot in town called Visabot, and as its name implies, this bot will help users apply for visas to the US.
We should point out that this bot only helps users fill out the forms needed to apply for a visa. Users will still need to send the forms to the relevant authorities, and also schedule interviews should they be necessary. Also there is no guarantee that you will be granted the visa, so in reality all this bot does is help make the form-filling process a bit easier.
As it stands the Visabot will only help users apply for two visas: the B-2 extensions for business and travel, and the O-1 for exceptional individuals. There are plans to extend it to H-1B and L-1 skilled worker visas, but given the current political climate it seems that it might soon get pretty hard to apply for those kinds of visas in the future.
According to Visabot founder Artem Goldman, the bot will try to answer questions when it cans, but those that it fails to answer can be further discussed on the likes of Skype with actual immigration lawyers, with the first session being free.