The US Visa is one of the most sought-after, but it also has a long waiting period, at least for Indian applicants. In 2022, the wait for B1/B2 visa interview appointments crossed 999 days for Indian applicants. To reduce the interview queues and enable more people to travel to the US, the Biden administration changed the qualifying criteria for a Dropbox interview from up to 12 months post-expiry to 48 months post-expiry. This has now been changed again.
US Reverts to 12-month Post-Expiry Dropbox Visa Renewal
The US has now returned to its pre-COVID timeline of allowing valid visa holders to renew their visas if their same-class visas are still valid or expired within the past 12 months. This allowed many more people to renew their visas without appearing for an interview, reducing the time for fresh visa applicants who must go through an interview process to about 400+ days from 1000 days.
However, overnight, the Dropbox qualification process was changed to return to the old policy of only renewing visas for those whose visas expired within 12 months. Here is the update on the website where Visa application appointments are granted. This was updated between February 12 and 13, 2025.
Unfortunately, this means that people banking on the visa renewal for a visa that expired between early 2021 and early 2024 will have to wait in line for a fresh interview, increasing the waiting period for a US Visa again. Also, existing Dropbox interviews that don’t fit the new scheme of things (12-month expiry) are being silently cancelled/not honoured.
Bottomline
The Dropbox method of renewing a US Visa, where no interview is required, has been limited to those with an existing visa about to expire or whose Visa expired within 12 months. This change was made this week, and it means that many more people will have to undergo an interview to visit the US.
Could you let me know what you think of the change to the US Visa Policy?
Liked our articles and our efforts? Please pay an amount you are comfortable with; an amount you believe is the fair price for the content you have consumed. Please enter an amount in the box below and click on the button to pay; you can use Netbanking, Debit/Credit Cards, UPI, QR codes, or any Wallet to pay. Every contribution helps cover the cost of the content generated for your benefit.
(Important: to receive confirmation and details of your transaction, please enter a valid email address in the pop-up form that will appear after you click the ‘Pay Now’ button. For international transactions, use Paypal to process the transaction.)
We are not putting our articles behind any paywall where you are asked to pay before you read an article. We are asking you to pay after you have read the article if you are satisfied with the quality and our efforts.
Leave a Reply