The US Department of State uses web portals to manage the process of applying for visas at US consulates and embassies outside the US. Several consulates have transitioned from the US Traveldocs platform to a new scheduling platform called US Visa Scheduling. This is particularly true for the US consulates in India.
Below is guidance provided by the American Immigration Lawyers Association for managing this transition if a foreign national is encountering particular challenges.
1. Login Credentials Not Migrating from US Traveldocs
On July 29, 2023, Mission India moved to a new appointment scheduling system. The new login page is https://www.usvisascheduling.com/. Applicants may use their existing email addresses to sign up and recreate their profile/account in the new system. Login credentials from the old system are not valid in the new system. Applicants who have already created a profile and paid the visa fee but have not scheduled an appointment should sign up and recreate their profile/account in the new system and proceed with appointment scheduling.
2. Appointment Dates and Fee Payments Not Migrating from US Traveldocs
If you log in to US Visa Scheduling to find that your appointment and/or records of Machine-Readable Visa (MRV) fees that were set up on the old system were not migrated over to the new system, there are several steps you can take to rectify the situation. While DOS has been working to ensure that all records in Mission India from US Traveldocs have now been migrated to US Visa Scheduling, they are aware that several applicants may still be affected. DOS has said that you should contact support-india@usvisascheduling.com to ask that your appointment details and applicant information be migrated to the new system. Should the problem persist, you may also contact the US Embassy in New Delhi or the appropriate consulate directly using the Navigator function found on the Embassy’s website at https://in.usembassy.gov/visas/.
Applicants do not need to pay a new visa fee if they have a valid payment receipt. If an applicant created their profile and paid their fee before July 15, 2023, but has not associated their payment to their profile, they may log in to their profile and claim their receipt by entering the payment receipt number into the new system.
If you have encountered an error with your payment or believe it was unsuccessful, DO NOT PAY THE FEE A SECOND TIME AS IT WILL NOT BE REFUNDED. Please email the support center at support-india@usvisascheduling.com with your concern, and they will investigate.
Please note that, unlike the previous system, the new scheduling system only accepts INDIAN credit or debit cards for payment of the MRV fees. While payment by non-Indian cards made using the old system can be migrated to the new system by contacting support-india@usvisascheduling.com, all payments made through the new scheduling system must be made using an Indian card.
3. Petition Request Number
Mission India’s new appointment booking system asks for a “Petition Request Number” in addition to a “Petition Receipt Number”; however, this appears to have been an error in the programming of the new website. DOS will remove the superfluous form field as soon as possible. In the meantime, please enter the Petition Receipt Number a second time.
4. Petition Start and Expiration Times
Mission India’s new appointment booking system asks for a “Petition Start Date” and “Petition Expiration Date” as well as start and expiration times to be entered in hours and minutes. This appears to have been an error in the programming of the new website. DOS will remove the superfluous form field as soon as possible. In the meantime, please enter 12:01 a.m. for the start time and 11:59 p.m. for the expiration time.
5. Tracking Passport Delivery After Visa Issuance
During the transition to the new scheduling system for Mission India, some applicants were not notified that their visas were issued and their passports were ready for collection. DOS is working to resolve these transition-related communication errors; however, as was the case prior to the transition, applicants should receive notice by email and SMS from the application support center when their passports are ready for collection. Applicants may also follow the guidance at https://www.ustraveldocs.com/in/en/step-6 to track their passports at any time.
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