NEW DELHI — The United States Embassy in India has thrown a wrench into the plans of so-called “bad actors,” canceling roughly 2,000 visa appointments it says were snatched up by bots in violation of its scheduling rules.
In a sharp statement posted on X, the embassy’s consular team announced the move, vowing to suspend the scheduling privileges of the accounts involved. “We have zero tolerance for fraud,” the post declared, signaling a broader push to stamp out shady tactics clogging the system.
The crackdown comes as visa delays plague applicants, fueled in part by a booming black market where travel agents wield automated tools to hoard appointment slots. For desperate travelers, the stakes are high—and the workaround costly.
One anonymous parent, speaking to The Times of India, recounted paying an agent 30,000 rupees (about $360) to secure a slot for their child’s university-bound visa last fall after striking out solo. “The wait was over six months,” they said. “With the agent, it shrank to less than one.”
A System Under Strain
The embassy’s move arrives against a backdrop of mounting frustration. The U.S. State Department’s April 2025 Visa Bulletin, released earlier this month, delivered grim news for Indian applicants: significant backlogs in employment-based categories, especially the EB-5 Unreserved tier, mean longer waits for green card hopefuls.
That bottleneck has rippled outward, intensifying demand for non-immigrant visa interviews—like the B1/B2 for tourists and business travelers or the coveted H-1B for skilled workers.
In India, where the H-1B is a golden ticket for tech professionals eyeing Silicon Valley, securing an interview slot has become a maddening game of chance. Travel agents, notorious for deploying bots to lock down dates, often resell them at a premium—30,000 to 35,000 rupees, per some reports—slashing wait times that can otherwise stretch beyond half a year. For individuals navigating the system alone, it’s a losing battle.
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Fraud Meets Fury
The embassy’s anti-fraud campaign aims to level the playing field, but it’s a tall order. “We will continue our efforts,” the consular team pledged on X, hinting at more measures to come. Yet the bot-driven chaos underscores a deeper tension: a visa process buckling under sky-high demand and limited supply.
Non-immigrant visas, which cover everything from tourism to temporary work, are a lifeline for millions, while immigrant visas—leading to permanent residency via the Green Card—remain a distant dream for many caught in the backlog. For now, the canceled appointments leave a void, and legitimate applicants may feel the pinch. But the embassy’s message is unequivocal: the days of gaming the system are numbered.
As one official put it, “We’re watching.” Whether that vigilance can outpace the ingenuity of fraudsters—and the desperation of those they exploit—remains to be seen.