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India: US embassy portal suffers glitches as students rush for visas

Mumbai - 'Please remember, do not refresh too often, as you may be blocked out of your account'

A rush for slots by Indian students seeking visa interviews led to glitches on the US embassy portal on Monday, adding to the woes of hundreds of students hoping to join colleges over the coming weeks.

The continuous attempts by many students to book a slot saw the site block them for ‘suspicious activity’ for 72 hours, adding to their frustrations.

“We are aware of the high demand for student visa appointments,” the US Embassy in New Delhi tweeted on Monday. “Please remember, do not refresh too often, as you may be blocked out of your account. Appointments remain available at all posts, and we will continue to add appointments as conditions allow.”

Students responded to the tweet, expressing fears about the delays. “Can you please tell us the exact figures of how many appointments will be added?” asked Arpita Jain. “We are more than 80K+ students (deferred students from 2020 as well) and you are unnecessary creating panic, just tell us how much you will add before August it will help everyone to decide.”

Pratibha Jain, a study abroad counsellor, told a newspaper that this was the first time that the website had crashed. “I am surprised they did not anticipate the rush,” said Jain. “Nobody was able to open the site. Going by previous numbers about 80,000 to 1 lakh students must have logged in at the same time. It is like opening a two-by-two door for entry into a large stadium; there is going to be a stampede.”