As per stories, the US Embassy in India has cancelled roughly 2,000 visa appointments following the invention of widespread fraudulent actions in its appointment scheduling system. The embassy introduced on Wednesday that Consular Staff India recognized “dangerous actors” who had exploited the system utilizing bots to safe these slots, violating official scheduling insurance policies. Efficient instantly, the embassy has terminated these appointments and suspended the scheduling privileges of the related accounts.
This improvement follows an inner investigation performed by the embassy between Could and August of final yr, which uncovered a community of 30 brokers concerned in misleading practices. These brokers, linked to a number of IP addresses, had been discovered to have submitted solid paperwork to safe visas for candidates. The investigation recognized connections to visa consultants, doc distributors, passport supply companies, and schooling consultants.
The crackdown has additionally prompted motion from Indian authorities. On February 27, Delhi Police registered a case in opposition to a number of visa and passport brokers after the US Embassy flagged the fraud.
Additionally learn: US Inexperienced Card, H-1B, F-1 holders warned: US entry will get harder; journey at your individual threat
The cancellation of those appointments comes amid heightened scrutiny of immigration processes below the Trump administration, which assumed workplace two months in the past. Since January, President Donald Trump has prioritized tightening US border safety, a key pledge of his marketing campaign. This has resulted within the deportation of hundreds of people who entered the nation by way of unlawful means, together with the infamous ‘donkey’ route—a time period used to explain irregular migration paths typically facilitated by brokers promising entry into the US.
The US Embassy’s zero-tolerance coverage displays a broader effort to take care of the integrity of its consular companies. The transfer has disrupted the plans of many candidates, although the embassy has not but detailed how affected people can reschedule.
Additionally learn: Delhi hits 40.1 levels Celsius: Ridge data hottest day of 2025 to this point
For years, the US visa software course of in India has been a goal for intermediaries promising to expedite appointments or assure approvals, typically at exorbitant charges. As investigations proceed, authorities on each side are anticipated to accentuate their collaboration to root out fraudulent networks, making certain that solely official candidates acquire entry to US visas. This heightened scrutiny might result in stricter verification measures, probably lengthening the method however aiming to revive belief within the system. In the meantime, real candidates are urged to rely solely on official channels, avoiding scams that prey on their aspirations to journey or work within the US.
This crackdown displays a zero-tolerance stance on fraud, focusing on these exploiting the excessive demand for US visas. The cancellations have sparked considerations amongst candidates, a lot of whom face wait instances exceeding 400 days for nonimmigrant visas like B1/B2.
var _mfq = window._mfq || [];
_mfq.push([“setVariable”, “toi_titan”, window.location.href]);
!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
function loadFBEvents(isFBCampaignActive) {
if (!isFBCampaignActive) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(…arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’, n, t, s);
fbq(‘init’, ‘593671331875494’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
};
function loadGtagEvents(isGoogleCampaignActive) {
if (!isGoogleCampaignActive) {
return;
}
var id = document.getElementById(‘toi-plus-google-campaign’);
if (id) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
t.id = ‘toi-plus-google-campaign’;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074’, n, t, s);
};
function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = []){
const section = window.location.pathname.split(‘/’)[1]
const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === ‘/’ && allowedSurvicateSections.includes(‘homepage’)
if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed){
(function(w) {
function setAttributes() {
var prime_user_status = window.isPrime ? ‘paid’ : ‘free’ ;
w._sva.setVisitorTraits({
toi_user_subscription_status : prime_user_status
});
}
if (w._sva && w._sva.setVisitorTraits) {
setAttributes();
} else {
w.addEventListener(“SurvicateReady”, setAttributes);
}
var s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.src=”https://survey.survicate.com/workspaces/0be6ae9845d14a7c8ff08a7a00bd9b21/web_surveys.js”;
s.async = true;
var e = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];
e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e);
})(window);
}
}
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
var TimesApps = window.TimesApps;
TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) {
var isConfigAvailable = “toiplus_site_settings” in f && “isFBCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings && “isGoogleCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings;
var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime;
var isPrimeUserLayout = window.isPrimeUserLayout;
if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) {
loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections);
} else {
var JarvisUrl=”https://jarvis.indiatimes.com/v1/feeds/toi_plus/site_settings/643526e21443833f0c454615?db_env=published”;
window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){
if (config) {
const allowedSectionSuricate = (isPrimeUserLayout) ? config?.allowedSurvicatePrimeSections : config?.allowedSurvicateSections
loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(allowedSectionSuricate);
}
})
}
};
})(
window,
document,
‘script’,
);
