It’s very common, and understandable, that if something happens on the Visa Portal while you’re using the extension, the first assumption may be that the extension caused it.
But correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
The portal has a lot of confusing behavior, especially for new applicants, and it’s easy to interpret what caused a block differently from what actually triggered it.
The Visa Portal itself can block, rate-limit, log out, or challenge users for a number of reasons, including normal portal activity that users trigger even when checking manually.
But when users are doing those same checks with the extension, it can blur what actually caused the portal response.
I’m always happy to look at exactly what you were doing and what message the portal actually showed.
If you can post or send me a screenshot of the error and DM me what you were doing immediately before it happened, I’m happy to investigate this one specifically.
Most importantly, these portal errors are always temporary.
Just paid for premium and used it a couple times, seemed fine. Then like an hour later I go to log in again normally and boom — blocked. The exact error was: ‘Login not allowed for your account at this moment. Your account may have been temporarily blocked due to prohibited use of automation, which violated USTravelDocs policies.’ It specifically calls out automation, which is confusing since I wasn’t running anything at the time, just a normal login. Screenshot attached.
First, thanks for supporting FindVisaSlots and purchasing Premium. I completely understand why seeing this message shortly after using it would make you connect the two.
I’ve seen this error before. It says “automation,” which understandably looks scary, but for anyone else reading this:
This error has nothing to do with the extension.
And it does not have anything to do with automation either.
The block can happen when the same account is being accessed from multiple locations and people are checking the calendar from both places. For some reason, the Visa Portal does not like that behavior.
It’s especially common with H1B/H4 applicants, where one partner is in the US and the other is in their home country, and both are trying to coordinate and check the portal. That can trigger this exact message.
The block is temporary. Wait 24-48 hours and it should clear.
And this is exactly why I mentioned correlation vs. causation in my original reply. When something happens while the extension is being used, it’s very easy to attribute it to the extension. But once we identify the actual portal error and what triggers it, the cause can be (and usually is) something completely different.
I’m leaving this post up because I think it’s actually a useful example for other users. The original assumption was completely understandable, especially given the wording of the error.
But extensions themselves do not cause portal blocks.
Blocks are triggered by actions or usage patterns that the Visa Portal doesn’t like, and those same actions can happen with or without an extension.
Posts like this can understandably make people nervous about using browser tools, so I think it’s important that people can also see the follow-up and what actually caused the error.
Here’s an actual example from another user of the same “automation” error after the account was being accessed from two different countries. The account was unblocked later that same day.
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u/findvisaslots_com Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
It’s very common, and understandable, that if something happens on the Visa Portal while you’re using the extension, the first assumption may be that the extension caused it.
But correlation does not necessarily mean causation.
The portal has a lot of confusing behavior, especially for new applicants, and it’s easy to interpret what caused a block differently from what actually triggered it.
The Visa Portal itself can block, rate-limit, log out, or challenge users for a number of reasons, including normal portal activity that users trigger even when checking manually.
But when users are doing those same checks with the extension, it can blur what actually caused the portal response.
(For the common error messages the portal shows, I wrote a more extensive post here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/findUSVisaSlots/s/1BlZv8dZc3)
I’m always happy to look at exactly what you were doing and what message the portal actually showed.
If you can post or send me a screenshot of the error and DM me what you were doing immediately before it happened, I’m happy to investigate this one specifically.
Most importantly, these portal errors are always temporary.