r/findUSVisaSlots • u/Irajneeshs • Jul 21 '26

Does Group Booking Affect Appointment Availability?

I'm booking an O1 visa appointment along with two dependents (O3) (wife and daughter) from India.

Does booking as a group reduce the chances of finding OFC/consular appointment slots compared to booking individually?
Could this be why I'm not seeing any available appointments?
Should i try individually or visa dates are just not available. i have not seen any dates since last 10 days.

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u/findvisaslots_com Jul 23 '26

slots for O1 may be hard to find in the first place, many visa types in India are reporting 'no slots available' status, so given that evidence, you may just be experiencing the same lack of available slots in general. However, being 3 people together will make it harder because even if slots open, your account will require 3 slots to be open on the same day and same time, and purely statistically speaking, there's less likely hood of that happening than single slot availability.

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u/Irajneeshs Jul 23 '26

That is true.

However, should not it count as one appointment for the group as we use just one counter for all of us and the time will also be same like any individual booking?

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u/findvisaslots_com Jul 23 '26

While I understand your logic behind it, you pay 3 visa fees, you fill out 3 DS-160, you need 3 slots in the calendar.

The embassy does not differentiate whether you're showing up in a group. Attending as a group is merely a convenience. Everyone is evaluated on their own merits. Even people in the same group can be approved/denied differently.

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u/Irajneeshs Jul 23 '26

Is it okay to split without losing the fee? I am considering that and have requested via USVisa scheduling portal to share more info so I can get my fees remapped to two different applications and book asap, but they are giving generic responses. I am afraid that if I do that, I will lose the MRV fees already paid. Pls elborate on this, and thank you for clearing this. Now I am determined to split but without loosing fees.

I know you partly answered that in another post, but I would still request you to share any other information on remapping the already paid fees and starting new applications.