Nueva Delhi: United States is taking energetic measures against “bots” blocking substantial Visa interview appointment Dates in India, leaving many applicants without option to pay agents around RS 30,000-35,000 per person to obtain the same in time for their proposed visit.
The United States Embassy in India said Wednesday in X: “The Indian consular team is canceling around 2,000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and reparators that violate our programming policies. From immediately, we are canceling these appointments and suspending the associated accounts’ programming privileges (sic)”.
“We will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance to fraud,” added the post. It is an open secret in the travel industry that, although there is a long wait for the dates of the appointment for the US visas. – B1/B2 visitors and student – paying an agent magically ensures a slot within a month or so.
“We tried to obtain a visa interview date on our own for our son who had to join an American university last fall, but there was nothing available in the deadline to do so. We paid a 30,000 RS agent and obtained the same over time,” said a person under condition of anonymity. Similarly, the wait for a B1/B2 is more than six months, but paying RS 30-35,000 could mean obtaining one within a month or so.
The sources say that agents use bots to block the dates of the appointments due to which short -term availability is not seen when applicants want to reserve one on their own. When waiting for B1/B2 appointments was close to the 999 -day brand in 2023, the United States had to open appointments for Indian applicants in their consulates in Frankfurt and Bangkok, among other places.
India had also addressed the issue of long visa waiting times With the United States 2-3 years ago. The United States took a series of steps to cut waiting times. Now, with us taking energetic measures against the bots, the situation could improve even more.