NEW DELHI, Mar 27: The US embassy in India has cancelled at least 2,000 appointments for visa which it said were made by “bots.”
The embassy said on Thursday that the cancellation of the appointments was part of its anti-fraud measures. The US has “zero tolerance” for fraud as well as agents and fixtures that violate scheduling policies. It said it identified the “bad actors” and the action taken was “effective immediately.”
The announcement was made on the embassy’s official account on social media platform, X. It said: “Consular Team India is cancelling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies.”
“Consular Team India identified bad actors who made about 2,000 visa appointments that violated our scheduling policies,” it added. The consular team said it has cancelled all these appointments and suspended the “associated accounts’ scheduling privileges.” “We will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance for fraud,” it said.
The visa cancellations come amid a crackdown on illegal immigration by the Trump administration. Since President Donald Trump assumed office two months ago, mass deportations have been carried out as part of his pledge to strengthen border security.
Over the past few weeks, the rules of US immigration have been tightened as Trump plans to limit travel for people from 43 nations, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bhutan. While India is not on any planned travel ban lists, experts said travellers are likely to be subject to more stringent security inspections, backlog in visa stamping, and even detention at US airports.
Individuals travelling abroad from the US for work or visa renewals may also face unexpected bureaucratic hurdles. Delays and a growing backlog in visa stamping at US consulates overseas are causing significant disruptions.
The issue of visa backlogs is also a matter of concern. Appointments for B1 and B2 visas, which are meant for business and tourism and have a maximum stay limit of six months, have witnessed significant delays in recent years.
There has also been an increase in student visa rejections. According to reports, in 2023-2024, the US received 6.79 lakh applications for F-1 student visas, of which 2.79 lakh were denied. The rejection rate stands at 41 per cent, as compared to 36 per cent from the previous year. The rejection rate has reportedly almost tripled in the last decade or so, as in 2014, it was only 15 per cent.
(Manas Dasgupta)
