An Indian citizen working in the United States on a H1B visa expressed his disappointment with the visa renewal process, saying he faced extreme difficulty in securing appointment slots through the US consulate’s Interview Waiver Program, commonly known as Dropbox.
In a Reddit post shared earlier this month, the Indian employee called the visa renewal process a “nightmare.”
No slots for H1B visa renewal
“I’ve been hunting for H1B dropbox visa slots for over a month now, and they just refuse to release anything for India,” the employee said. “The few I’ve seen were for random dates like two days from now – seriously, how is anyone living in the US supposed to make that work?! It’s absolutely insane.”
Under the Dropbox scheme, applicants can submit their documents for visa renewal without attending an in-person interview. All dropbox submissions for H1B visas in India are processed through the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, but applicants can drop off their documents at any of the Visa Application Centers across India.
For people working in the US on an H1B visa, the lack of Dropbox slots has become a problem as they need to travel back to India for their Dropbox appointments. However, with the US Consulate releasing slots only a couple of days in advance, Indian workers are having a tough time making travel plans.
{{/usCountry}}For people working in the US on an H1B visa, the lack of Dropbox slots has become a problem as they need to travel back to India for their Dropbox appointments. However, with the US Consulate releasing slots only a couple of days in advance, Indian workers are having a tough time making travel plans.
{{/usCountry}}The frustration was captured in the Reddit post where the employee wrote, “I need to get stamped before November because I have to travel to India, and this situation is making me so anxious. I can’t just fly there on a whim and hope they’ll release slots the next day.”
He called the process “beyond frustrating” as he asked Reddit for suggestions on his predicament.
In the same boat
Several people took to the comments section of the Reddit post to say they were in the same boat.
“I'm in the same boat. Looking for slots for November or December, nothing is released. I need to go to India at any cost. Hope they release soon,” said one Reddit user.
“Thousands of people in the same boat.. I’ve been looking since August. They opened Nov and Dec slots in July and some few weeks ago.. hopefully more will open up, but hard to grab them,” said another.
Indian employees in the US also said how lack of visa slots was preventing them from making concrete travel and leave plans. “I agree, this situation is terrible. I have to take PTO at work to go to India and tell them in advance if I’ll be going for a month! I don’t know if I should plan my vacation if there is no guarantee of dropbox slots,” a user said.