The American consulates in India have cancelled all Dropbox (interview waiver) visa appointments scheduled for August and September 2025, following a directive issued by the US Department of State on July 25, which is set to take effect from 2 September. This means most applicants renewing non-immigrant visas in categories like H, L, F, M, J, E, and O must now attend in-person interviews instead of using the Dropbox facility.
Why This Change?
The main reason behind this shift, experts say, is that the US is returning to pre-pandemic visa screening procedures. The Dropbox facility, which was expanded during COVID-19 pandemic to reduce in-person interactions is now being scaled back for most visa categories.
Who Is Affected?
The change will likely adversely impact thousands of Indian professionals, students, researchers and exchange visitors who’d been relying on the relatively easier Dropbox method to renew their visas without appeasring for interviews.
Visa categories that are expected to take a serious hit include:
* H (work visas)
* L (intra-company transfer)
* F (students)
* M (vocational students)
* J (exchange visitors)
* E (investors and traders)
* O (extraordinary ability)
According to the latest update, even children under the age of 14 and adults over 79 years will generally need to attend interviews now, unlike before.
However, some categories will continue to remain exempt and eligible for interview waivers:
- Diplomatic and official visas (A, G, NATO, TECRO E-1)
- Some B-1/B-2 visitor visa renewals may still qualify under strict conditions, such as renewing within 12 months of expiry, applying in their home country, and no prior refusals.
However, consular officers can still exercise their discretion and seek interviews on case-by-case basis.
What Should Applicants Do?
Those with cancelled Dropbox appointments should ideally:
1. Check their email and visa appointment profiles to confirm cancellations.
2. Reschedule their appointments for in-person interviews.
3. Restart their visa application if necessary, including updated eligibility questions.
4. Verify their MRV fee validity, as fees older than 365 days may no longer be accepted unless extensions are announced.
What’s noteworthy here, though, is that the cancellation itself does not count as one of the limited reschedule chances.
Official Statement From the US Department of State
“Effective September 2, 2025, all nonimmigrant visa applicants, including applicants under the age of 14 and over the age of 79, will generally require an in-person interview with a consular officer except…” certain diplomatic or official categories and specific B-1/B-2 renewals, a statement from the State Department read.
According to the release, the July update “supersedes a previous interview waiver update from February 2025”.
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