The official U.S. Visa Information Services website for India recently notified that a new system for U.S. Visa Services will be introduced, effective July 15, 2023.
Applicants are advised the following:
Update Profile with Accurate Information
U.S. visa applicants should ensure that all data provided on https://portal.ustraveldocs.com is accurate. If any of the information provided here, which includes the Given Name; Surname; Date of Birth; Passport Information, Phone #, Email iD, Address and the CEAC #, has changed, it should be updated at the earliest.
Visa Fee Payment to be Suspended from July 11 to July 14, 2023
If an applicant plans to pay the U.S. visa application fee, the applicant should do so on or before July 10, 2023 or on or after July 15, 2023. The U.S. visa fee payment service will be unavailable from July 11 to July 14, 2023.
Fee Paid Should be Associated to Each Applicant’s Profile
If the visa application fee has already been paid and the same is not updated on the profile of the applicant, the applicant should login to the profile immediately and update the payment receipt number without any delay.
Additional Instructions for Travel Coordinator / Group Coordinators / Family with Dependents
If the profile is managed by a travel coordinator, group coordinator, or family member, who added dependent visa applicants to the primary applicant profile, then, they should ensure that each dependent / applicant has a unique email address. If one has listed the email ID of the travel coordinator or the parent for each dependent, this has to be updated to a unique email ID for each applicant.
It may be noted that, if the visa appointment is already scheduled, then the dependent profile will not be accessible. In this case, coordinators can contact the call center to have this information updated.
Summary And Conclusion
The notification further advises U.S. visa applicants to monitor the official visa services website regularly as additional information / instructions about the upcoming changes will be posted on a regular basis.
We hope this new system will prevent bulk visa appointment blocking by agents and provide a fair opportunity to each applicant / representative to schedule an appointment.
We at Murthy Immigration Services will continue to monitor and bring updates on this important subject.