<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi: The United States is taking strict action against automated “bots” that block a significant number of visa interview appointment slots in India, forcing many applicants to pay agents hefty fees\u2014ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per person\u2014to secure a timely appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Wednesday, the US embassy in India announced via X : \u201cConsular Team India is cancelling about 2,000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers who violate our scheduling policies. Effective immediately, we are cancelling these appointments and suspending the associated accounts\u2019 scheduling privileges.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The embassy further emphasized its commitment to fighting fraudulent activities, stating, \u201cWe will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance for frauds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has long been known in the travel industry that despite lengthy wait times for US visa appointments\u2014particularly for business (B1\/B2) and student visas\u2014agents can often secure slots within a month for a hefty fee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Indian leading Newspaper The Times of India reported in their story that \u201cA parent seeking anonymity shared their experience: \u201cThey tried booking a visa interview date for our child, who was supposed to join an American university last fall, but couldn\u2019t find any available slots. Eventually, They paid an agent Rs 30,000 and got an appointment in time.\u201d Similarly, while the wait time for a B1\/B2 visa can exceed six months, paying Rs 30,000\u201335,000 often results in an expedited appointment within a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to sources, agents use bots to block large numbers of appointment slots, making it nearly impossible for individual applicants to book one on their own. When wait times for B1\/B2 visas peaked at nearly 999 days in 2023, the US had to arrange interview slots for Indian applicants at its consulates in Frankfurt, Bangkok, and other locations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India has previously raised concerns over prolonged visa wait times with the US, prompting American authorities to take several steps to reduce delays. Now, with the US intensifying its crackdown on bots, the situation is expected to improve further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi: The United States is taking strict action against automated “bots” that block a significant number of visa interview appointment slots in India, forcing many applicants to pay agents hefty fees\u2014ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 per person\u2014to secure a timely appointment. On Wednesday, the US embassy in India announced via X : […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[220,8,210,218,13,219],"tags":[34,196,192,164,226],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-business","category-india","category-north-america","category-tech","category-world","tag-business","tag-india","tag-nri","tag-usa","tag-visa"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=649"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":653,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649\/revisions\/653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nripanjabi.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}