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us embassy: US Embassy to resume tourist visa interviews in India

The US Embassy announced on Sunday that it was resuming tourist and visitor B1-B2 visa appointments in India from September after the rush for student visas ended.
“The US mission to India is pleased to announce that we are resuming routine in-person tourist visa appointments in September 2022,” the official announcement on the US Embassy social media pages stated. “Previously scheduled placeholders have now been cancelled. Applicants whose placeholder appointments were cancelled may now re-enter the scheduling system to book regular appointments. Appointments have been opened through 2023,” the announcement further said.
Placeholders were B1-B2 visitor visa interview appointment slots given to first time applicants who were not eligible for interview waivers. Since the interviews were not actually being done, the placeholders were not real slots and hence will now be cancelled.
Applicants will have to book regular slots through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) scheduling system. Applicants who had been given placeholder slots had the option to raise expedited or emergency appointment requests for interviews. However, if they did not have a valid reason to ask for such appointments, requests were very likely not approved.
The US mission in India had stopped doing interviews for B1-B2 visas since March 2020 because of the pandemic and the announcement about the resumption of tourist visa interviews comes as a big relief for many Indians who had been forced to put travel plans on hold for many months.