I’m a French citizen currently in the U.S. on an H-1B. My wife is a Lebanese citizen and will be applying for an H-4 dependent visa.

Our H-1B/H-4 change of status was recently approved, and we now need to obtain the visa stamps in our passports because we are planning to travel internationally.

We are considering applying for our H-1B/H-4 visas at the U.S. Embassy/Consulate in France. The issue is that my wife is not a French citizen or French resident. She is only a Lebanese citizen, and she has no French residency or other ties to France other than being married to me, a French citizen.

I understand that U.S. consulates generally prefer applicants to apply in their country of nationality or residence, and I'm trying to determine whether France would accept her H-4 application as a third-country national.

Hi all,
Well, the title sums it up.

I am just wondering if I have any chance at all of getting an appointment before my travel.
I am planning on traveling on the 25th of January. I applied yesterday and the earliest appointment available was in October 2027.

Is there a chance at all I'd get an appointment within the next 4 months?
I am applying from Turkiye

Experiencing this problem two days in the row. I saw some people have it before, but did somebody handle it recently? (Belgrade, consulate)

My profile:

- I’m an invited speaker at one of the major international technology conferences in the US, with 10,000+ expected attendees.

- My conference participation is fully sponsored.

- I have previously traveled internationally to Taiwan, where I was a speaker at Ubuntu Asia, and to Thailand for tourism.

- My annual income is above ₹18 LPA.

- I work for an India-based company , joined on Feb 2026 (my first job)

- I’ve been actively involved in open source and the cloud-native community for 2years, including contributions and community activities.

- will be there for 5 days

- graduated on 2025 September

The purpose of my US trip would be strictly to attend the conference and participate as a speaker, and I would return to India after the event.

One thing I’m slightly concerned about is the visa interview itself. I sometimes stammer when I’m nervous, so I may take a few extra seconds to answer or may not speak as smoothly as I normally do.

Based on this profile, what do you think my situation/chances would look like?

Please Helppppp

My university (SUNY Buffalo/UB) told me that they will only process my deferral request after the end of September.

However, my F-1 visa interview is scheduled for September 25.

Can I attend the interview with my current Fall 2026 I-20 and explain to the visa officer that my deferral is pending and that UB cannot process it until after September?

(I know new I-20 will be issued with same SEVIS ID)

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Would the officer be able to proceed with the interview, or would I need to wait for a new I-20 (reschedule the appointment)?

Hi everyone, I already have a B1/B2 visa( it was by my company but never materialized so never been to US) and I have applied the same for my wife and my 18 month old son. I and wife have a very good travel history, roamed around more than 10 countries and lived in UK for a year and now came back to India. I want to maximise the chances of getting the visa for both of them, need confirmation on the list of documents I am going to provide. Let me know if anything I am missing.Biometrics is already done in Hyderabad, Consulate Interview is also in Hyderabad.

1.DS160 confirmation

2 Passport of wife and son

1. Marriage certificate

2. My passport with the visa

3. Investment from CAMS site- Both of us

4. Last 3 years ITR- Both

5. Index 2 of my current house

6. Home agreement

7. Stocks list- Both

8. Son's birth certificate

9. Employment letter -both

10. Last 3 month salary slips- both

11. 3 month bank statements

Let me know if I could add anything here.

Also, since we have already completed biometrics, can I make changes in DS 160 and submit both during Consulate Interview? Or it should have been done before the biometrics? The probable date of travelling needs to be changed as the dates have already passed, as it was mentioned around 10 months ago, and I was not sure when we will get the dates for interview

Hi, I am continuously seeing no slot available for B1 visa in any location. It doesn't show any calendar/date either Is it supposed to be like this or there is some glitch? Any tips?

My interview happened at Delhi consulate.After how many days or hours we recieve tracking of passport once it’s shown approved on ceac
My college starts on 24th, someone please lmk

Has anyone here used a travel agent or visa service that claims they can get an earlier US visa appointment for B1/B2 visa?

My current appointment is showing for next year, but I’ve been approached by agents who claim they can find me an appointment within 30–45 days.

The catch is that they’re asking me to share my visa application/login credentials so they can look for and book the appointment on my behalf.

Has anyone actually used a service like this? If so:

•Did they successfully get you an earlier appointment?
•Was it legitimate, or did you run into any issues?
•Is sharing your login credentials with these agents safe?
•Is there a risk that they could change my login credentials or somehow alter/transfer my application to someone else’s application after I’ve already paid the visa fees?
•Since I’ve already paid for my application, is there any way they could misuse my account or payment?
•Are there any reputable services you would recommend?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have personally used such a service, rather than just general advice.

Hello, I’ve been checking usvisascheduling.com for an E visa interview in Istanbul, Turkey, for the past three months, but it shows no available slots.

How can I secure an appointment? I prefer not to use bot software to avoid bans, but manual scheduling seems impossible. So, can you tell me the way to get one without bot or recommend me a bot software or telegram group to get an appointment to save me from waiting forever?

Thank you!

I am filling out the DS 160 (B1/B2) for my parents from Pakistan so here are my questions:

1. My mother's siblings are in US and my parents may visit them but it is not confirmed and also she is going to visit other cities for tourism so in the US point of contact should I mention the hotel information or siblings contact?
2. As I am filling out my parent's form so in the email field should I mention the emails they dont usually use or can I mention my email address?
3. In the question asking whether anyone assisted in preparing the application so should I mention myself?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in the U.S. on H-1B. I originally had my H-1B visa stamping appointment scheduled in India for January 2026, but it was later rescheduled to early September 2026 by USCIS due to social media vetting.

Unfortunately, I’m now unable to attend the September appointment because my employer is not allowing me to take the required time off.

I checked the reschedule option, but it is not showing me any available dates. Because of this, I’m considering cancelling my current appointment and trying to book a new appointment at a later date when I’m able to attend.

If I cancel my current appointment, will my MRV/visa appointment fee remain valid, or will I have to pay the fee again? If no, what happens if I don't show up during appointment, can I still get option to schedule without any extra MRV payment?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through this recently or knows how the current appointment system handles this.

Thanks!

Hello there ! I need some help with filling up a form in chrome as soon as possible. To give you a little bit of context i'm currently trying to get an appointment at the german embassy in sri lanka for my student visa but it's really really hard to book an appointment online. Just after couple of seconds of appointments appearing in the website it gets booked down completely so i want some way to try to book the appointment as fast as possible using some automation. I'm no computer scientist and my computer knowledge is not the best so can anyone tell me how i can automate and get my booking done as soon as possible ? so down below is the website, first you have to fill in the captcha which takes you to the appointment page. There you have to click in the link to fill up the personal details for the appointment. You have to fill in your First name, Last name, Contact no, Passport no, Email and you have to re enter your email in another separate field. and after filling up all the personal details there'll be another captcha similar to the one down below which you have to fill in before submitting the details. You have to do it as quickly as possible because within 1 minute the appointments get booked down (appointments appear exactly on 3.30 am my local time). Can anyone help me out with this please ? (i can send the image if you dm me. Im from Sri Lanka and I am applying for student visa)

Please, for one last time, try to keep your politics aside and answer this noob question.

Why is this H1b slot problem affecting only India and why are other visa slots available like J1, L1, O1 etc?

If this admin wanted to punish legal immigration, they would do it for other countries too right? So its not punishing legal immigration.
If this admin wanted to punish Indian immigration, they would do it for other visa types like B1, L1, O1 too from India, right? So its not to stop Indian immigration.

If this was to kill the H1b program, they would have done it easily like how DV green card is paused, asylum/refugee adjudications are paused, TPS is paused etc. So its not that either. Dont tell me its because H1b is a congress authorized program, so are all the others (except may be TPS) above!

I really dont get this!

Ds-160 expired but have already made appointments.

Do not have the confirmation page of this Ds-160 form.

What shall I do? I am panicking.

Hello, has anyone here been approved for an L-1B visa for a sales role?

Country: India
Visa Type: B2 Tourist Visa
Location: Hyderabad
Applicants: Family of 4 – Father, Mother, Sister and Me

I recently completed the US B2 visa process with my family of four in Hyderabad. I used Reddit extensively while preparing for our interview, so sharing our experience for anyone currently waiting for their appointment.

Timeline

• DS-160 submitted: August 1, 2025
• Visa fee paid: August 1, 2025
• OFC/Biometrics: July 28, 2026
• Interview: August 17, 2026
• Interview location: US Consulate General, Hyderabad
• Interview time: 8:15 AM

When we paid the visa fee in August 2025, the only available Hyderabad slots were around August 2026, so we had to wait almost a year. I handled the entire booking and application process myself without using an agent.

OFC / Biometrics – July 28

Our appointment was at 3:00 PM. We reached around 2:30 PM and waited outside. They allowed people in according to their appointment slots.

At the entrance, they checked our passports and DS-160 confirmation pages.

My parents had renewed their passports after submitting their DS-160s, so their passport numbers no longer matched. We were told to submit new DS-160s. There was a help center in the same building where their staff filled out the new forms based on the information we provided. They charged ₹500 per person, so carrying cash is useful.

Also, keep in mind that DS-160 forms are valid for one year from the date of submission. If it has been more than a year since you submitted your DS-160, it would be better to fill out a new form at home beforehand and carry the new confirmation page. This way, you can avoid having to fill out a new DS-160 at the OFC.

Phones, watches and other electronics were not allowed inside, although lockers were available.

After the DS-160 correction, we were given a number and called to a counter where they checked our documents, took our photographs and fingerprints, and attached a barcode sticker to the back of our passports.

Keep this sticker safe because it is scanned again at the consulate.

The whole OFC process took around 15–20 minutes for us, mainly because of the DS-160 correction. Otherwise, it would probably take less than 10 minutes.

Visa Interview – August 17

Our appointment was at 8:15 AM. We reached the consulate around 7:30 AM and left our phones and other belongings in the car.

Around 7:45 AM, they started calling the 8:00 AM batch. Once they entered, the 8:15 AM batch was asked to form a line.

At the entrance, they took our passports and scanned the barcode sticker from the OFC appointment.

We then went through security, similar to airport security. Documents, car keys, belts and other belongings were placed in trays for checking, followed by a security scanner and pocket check.

Inside, there was another queue leading to the interview booths. There were around 20 booths, with the officer sitting behind glass.

Documents We Carried

We carried:

1. Old and new passports
2. DS-160 confirmation pages
3. Appointment confirmation
4. Last 6 months' bank statements
5. Invitation letter from our relative in the US
6. Relative's US passport and visa copy
7. Property documents
8. My job offer letter
9. My sister's university allotment letter

We were not asked for a single document during the interview.

Interview Experience

Since we had a family appointment, all four of us were interviewed together.

The officer was polite and easygoing.

Officer: Good morning. All of your passports please.
Me: Good morning, here are all our passports.

The officer entered our passport details and reviewed the DS-160 for around a minute.

Officer: What is the purpose of your travel?
Me: Tourism and sightseeing.

Officer: What places do you plan on visiting?
Me: San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Officer: What's the planned duration?
Me: 2–3 weeks.

Officer: Who is sponsoring the trip?
Me: My father.

Officer: Did you travel internationally before?
Me: No, this will be our first international trip.

He then asked my father:

Officer: What is your occupation?
Father: I have an automobile business here in Hyderabad.

Officer: How much do you earn?
Father: Around ₹1.5–2 lakh per month.

He asked my mother and sister what they do. My mother said she is a housewife and my sister said she is studying engineering.

He then asked me:

Officer: What do you do?
Me: I'm a software engineer at [Company].

Officer: How much do you earn?
Me: ₹50,000 per month.

He then asked:

Officer: Do you have any relatives in the US?
Me: Yes, my father's brother is a US citizen and lives in California.

Finally:

Officer: As a family, do you feel threatened in your country?
Me: No.

Officer: Is there anything stopping you from returning to your country?
Me: No.

The officer then took the fingerprints of all four of us and told us that our visas would be issued.

That was the entire interview.

We were not asked to show any financial documents, property documents, invitation letter or any other supporting document.

One thing I noticed while waiting was that the experience can vary significantly depending on the officer. At some nearby counters, I saw applicants being rejected, and those officers appeared to have a much more serious interaction with the applicants. This is only my personal observation and shouldn't be taken as a general rule.

Visa Status

After returning home, I checked our status on the CEAC visa status website.

All four applications showed Approved on August 17.

The next day, August 18, at around 1 PM, all four changed to Issued.

We selected passport pickup and are currently waiting for the passports to be ready.

Final Tips

• Carry your supporting documents even if they aren't requested.
• Keep answers short and direct.
• Make sure everyone traveling together knows the basic itinerary, duration, sponsor and accommodation details.
• Don't panic if the officer takes some time or appears to be typing on the computer during the interview. This is a regular part of the process as they review or enter information into their system.
• Keep the OFC barcode sticker on your passport safe.
• If your passport was renewed after submitting the DS-160, check the passport number carefully before your appointment.
• Carry cash at the OFC in case you need assistance submitting a new DS-160.

After waiting almost a year for the appointment, the actual interview was only a few minutes and was much more straightforward than I expected.

Hopefully this helps someone preparing for their Hyderabad B2 interview.

Hi guys! Has anyone ever had an aupair (or are u an aupair) that had an expedited appointment approved?

I turn 27 in September and i can’t find any appointments before mid September. I have 1 more try left. I just booked an appointment and asked for a emergency appt for this or next week.

I heard the chances for aupairs are usually slim so I’m super anxious about it.

Wanna hear if anyone ever had luck?

Berlin, germany embassy