Background
U.S. visa applicants may recall that the procedure to apply for a nonimmigrant visa in India is to (1) first complete the visa application form DS160, (2) create an account of www.usvisascheduling.com, choose the right category of visa, and (3) pay the visa application fee. Once this is done, depending on eligibility, (4) one may have to apply for a visa through the Dropbox or in-person.
It appears that some applicants and agents have been misusing this system by providing some dummy or incorrect data on the visa application form, use that to schedule an appointment and later provide a new visa application form DS160. This leads to lot of confusion and additional time being spent by the staff at the visa application center. This also permits room for misuse of the system.
Recent Announcement
The U.S. Embassy in India has announced https://in.usembassy.gov/visas/ that individuals scheduling visa appointments need to ensure that either they or their representative must submit a correctly filled visa application form DS-160 prior to scheduling an appointment. This new requirements came into effect on November 15, 2023.
This announcement will affect the visa interviews as follows:
Appointments booked prior to November 15, 2023
Applicants who scheduled their visa interview prior to November 15, 2023 just need to carry an accurately submitted visa application form DS160 confirmation for the interview. Applicants do not need to carry the original DS160 confirmation page based on which the visa appointment was booked.
Appointments booked on or after November 15, 2023
Applicants who booked an appointment on or after November 15, 2023 must bring the original DS160 confirmation based on which the appointment was scheduled. If there are any minor changes to the form, then the applicant can create a new form DS160, submit the same and carry the confirmation in addition to the one which was originally used to book the appointment.
If the passport information, name of the applicant, date of birth, visa category is incorrect, then the applicant will have to cancel the appointment and make a fresh one. However, if a new passport was obtained or if there is a change in the itinerary, then, these can be accommodated.
In such cases, failure to bring the original DS160 confirmation page will mean that the applicant will have to cancel the existing appointment and schedule a new one.
Summary and Conclusion
In order to avoid having their appointment canceled, applicants should ensure that they submit a duly and accurately filled-out visa application form DS-160. If a visa agent is used, it is recommended to complete the DS-160 personally before seeking the agent’s assistance. It is crucial to avoid submitting an incorrectly filled DS-160 application as a temporary measure, either by the individual or by anyone on their behalf, as it may result in the loss of the scheduled appointment.
The U.S. Embassy in India has indicated that this new requirement has been introduced to uphold the integrity and security of the visa application procedure, it is crucial to verify the accuracy of submitted visa application data. We understand that this is an attempt to avoid misuse of the visa appointment system and urge applicants to ensure accuracy of the visa application forms submitted.