Representational image.
Representational image.
The embassy’s consular team India identified these “bad actors” who had violated scheduling policies and had suspended their accounts from making further appointments.
“Consular Team India is canceling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies..We will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance for fraud,” the US Embassy stated in an Instagram post, reinforcing its commitment to maintaining the integrity of the visa application process,” the embassy said in a post on X.
Sources told the Times of India that agents use bots to block appointment dates due to which no near-term availability is visible when applicants want to book one on their own.
B1 and B2 visas are for visiting the country for business and tourism purposes.
The waiting time for B1/B2 appointments was too high (from 800-1000 days delay per reports) in 2022-23, leading the US to open appointments for Indian applicants at its consulates in Frankfurt and Bangkok.
In September 2022, external affairs minister S.Jaishankar expressed concern about the visa delay to secretary or state Antony Blinken, who said the Covid pandemic was the reason for the backlog.
In January 2025, Jaishankar iterated his concern to the second Trump administration.
“If it takes 400-odd days of waiting period to get a visa, I don't think the relationship is well served by this. He (Rubio) also noted that point.” Jaishankar said at a news conference after his bilateral meeting with Marco Rubio, where the immigration issue was discussed.
Besides the business and tourism purpose, the denial rate for student visas has also increased.
According to an analysis by The Indian Express, the student visa (F-1) denial rate reached a decade-high in the last fiscal year (October 2023 – September 2024).
A staggering 41 per cent of F-1 visa applications worldwide were rejected, almost double the refusal rate of 2014. The US received 6.79 lakh applications for student visas, of which 2.79 lakh were denied.
This marks an increase from the previous year, when 36% of 6.99 lakh applications were turned down.
Though the US state department has not disclosed country-specific rejection rates, The Indian Express reported that Indian students faced a 38 per cent drop in student visas issued in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
With the crackdown on bot, the logjam of visa application may come down leading to a reduction in waiting period.