NEW DELHI: Getting an appointment date for US visa has become a difficult affair for applicants ever since Uncle Sam moved to a new system for the same recently.
The problem, say travel agents, arises while trying to pay the fees and then getting an appointment date which could be almost 1.5 years away for first time B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) US visa applicants.The US embassy in India has recognised the issues being caused by the new system.
We recognise that some applicants have experienced service disruptions during our transition to a new appointment booking platform.
For technical assistance with the appointment booking platform, please write an email to [email protected] with the following information: applicant name, passport number, appointment confirmation number, and a brief explanation of the problem.
We regret any inconvenience and aim to resolve your issues as soon as possible, it said on Wednesday.Anil Kalsi, Travel Agents Federation of India joint secretary and a leading Delhi-based travel agent, explained the issue being faced by applicants under the new system.
Applying for a US visa has two distinct processes filling up the DS 160 visa form and then doing a CGI log-in to pay the fees to get an appointment date.
The fee payment part has been changed and that is where people are facing issues like not being able to log-in using thir credentials.
We are getting lots of inquiries for this issue and hope the same is resolved at the earliest, Kalsi said.The technical issue comes at a time when appointment wait period for first time B1/B2 applicants still remains over 1.5 years, though much lower than the over two years that was common till last winter.
According to the US State Department website, this wait period as of now is 421 days in Kolkata; 428 in Hyderabad; 437 in Chennai; 570 in Mumbai and 527 in Delhi.
Till last winter, the wait period was over two years and the US consulate in India has managed to cut the backlog by taking several steps.
It aims to process 10 lakh applications this year.
Were almost at 1 million.
9 lakh visa applications have been processed, it said on X (erstwhile Twitter) on Monday.