“Have Zero Tolerance”: US Cancels 2,000 Visa Appointments By “Bots” In India
New Delhi:
The US Embassy in India cancelled over 2,000 visa functions on account of fraud-related actions. The embassy detected main violations within the appointment system by “unhealthy actors” or bots and suspended their accounts, it mentioned on Wednesday.
“Consular Staff India is cancelling about 2,000 visa appointments made by bots. We’ve zero tolerance for brokers and fixers that violate our scheduling insurance policies,” the US Embassy wrote in a submit on X.
“Efficient instantly, we’re cancelling these appointments and suspending the related accounts’ scheduling privileges,” they added.
Consular Staff India is canceling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We’ve zero tolerance for brokers and fixers that violate our scheduling insurance policies. pic.twitter.com/ypakf99eCo
— U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) March 26, 2025
B1 and B2 visas, meant for enterprise and tourism, have seen vital backlogs lately. In 2022-23, ready instances ranged from 800 to 1,000 days, prompting the US to open visa appointments for Indian candidates in Frankfurt and Bangkok.
In 2022, Exterior Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised issues in regards to the visa delays with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who attributed the backlog to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Jaishankar once more spoke about these issues in January this 12 months to the second Trump administration.
“If it takes 400-odd days of ready interval to get a visa, I do not suppose the connection is effectively served by this. He (Marco Rubio) additionally famous that time,” Mr Jaishankar mentioned after his bilateral assembly with US Senator Marco Rubio, the place immigration points have been mentioned.
Past enterprise and tourism visas, pupil visa denials have additionally surged. In FY 23-24 (October 2023 – September 2024), the US obtained 6.79 lakh functions for F-1 pupil visas, rejecting 2.79 lakh of them. This was a 41 per cent rejection charge, a pointy improve from the earlier 12 months when 36 per cent of 6.99 lakh functions have been denied.
In 2014, the rejection charge was 15 per cent, which has now almost tripled. The entire variety of visas accredited has additionally declined, impacting universities and worldwide college students.
Although country-specific rejection charges should not formally disclosed, stories recommend that Indian college students confronted a 38 per cent drop in pupil visas issued within the first 9 months of 2024 in comparison with the identical interval in 2023.
