South Africa tour of India 2019
India is selling U.S. visa slots for $1,000 each.
This technique has been on the upswing since the year 2000. Indian businesses have discovered a method to cash in on students and people applying for multiple visas by selling them visa slots. At this time, prices range from $100 to $1,000.
The US Consulate in India wants to increase the number of Indians visiting the US as part of bilateral relations. Still, there is a shortage of slots because of the pandemic.
Facebook groups publicly solicit students in exchange for F1 visa slots (freshers and refused). One such organisation says it works around the clock to track slot availability and distributes slots in mass whenever possible. Appointment times are sometimes resold by scalpers who appear to reserve blocks of them in advance.
It is common to practise for such businesses to guarantee their clients an expedited visa interview. They say they've worked with US consular officers for years and have consular ties with numerous consular offices. In addition, these organisations concur that travel brokers have no unique abilities.
U.S. consular offices have complained that this sort of thing slows down their operations, but not much has been done to address the issue. It's a similar story in Nigeria, where consulates "recognise" the issue and are "slowly working" to fix it so that students can confidently approach them to apply for permits.
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