Affected categories include H, L, F, M, J, E, and O visas. The cancellation will impact thousands of Indian professionals, students, researchers, and exchange visitors who had planned to renew their visas through the previously permitted Dropbox facility.
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Applicants have been advised to log into their visa appointment profiles, confirm the cancellations, and reschedule interviews under the new rules. Many will need to restart the application process entirely, including answering updated eligibility questions. Visaverge reported that applicants will have to check the validity of the MRV (Machine Readable Visa) fee, as payments older than 365 days may no longer be accepted unless an extension is announced.
Children under the age of 14 and adults over 79 are now generally required to appear for interviews, whereas diplomatic and official visa categories, including A, G, NATO, and TECRO E-1, continue to be eligible for Dropbox waivers. Some B-1/B-2 visitor visa renewals may still qualify under strict conditions, though consular officers retain the discretion to request in-person interviews on a case-by-case basis.
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The primary reason behind the suspension of the dropbox interviews in India is the United States’ decision to return to pre-pandemic visa screening procedures.
For applicants whose August–September Dropbox slots were cancelled, the steps are clear: check for a cancellation notice via email, confirm the status through the appointment portal, restart the application if necessary, and rebook under the new criteria. The cancellation itself does not count as one of the limited allowed reschedules.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
