B2 Visa Renewal - Still No Receipt Number

USA B1/ B2 Visitor Visa
#1

I am applying for a B2 visa renewal for my mom. She is based in Chennai and qualifies for interview waiver under the new rules. I paid the visa fees on the USTravelDocs website on 24-Feb-2022 via NEFT. It’s been over 3 weeks and i still have not received a receipt to schedule an appointment for dropoff. There has been total radio silence since i paid. I sent them emails, submitted a ticket from their portal and it is marked as escalated but there has been no response yet. I also called their hotline and they were the least helpful.

Anyone here in this situation where it took a long time to get the receipt number? How long did it take and what did you have to do and who did you contact? Any input is appreciated

#2

Quick update:

As i paid via NEFT, their receiving bank (Bank of America Mumbai) is holding the payment. They (the bank) reached out to me via email 7 days ago asking for my passport and ID proof before they can release the payment. This doesn’t make sense because I am a US citizen and the only role i have in this process is to make payment on behalf of my mother using my bank account in India. I went ahead and sent them my passport information and it has been 7 days and still no response.

As it stands now:

  • USTravelDocs will not renew visa till they get the payment.
  • The bank will not release payment till they get information from me.
  • I have provided requested information 7 days ago but bank still has not released the payment.

I am lost at this point and don’t know what to do. This radio silence is super frustrating.

Anyone else in this situation? Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

#3

This seems more of a banking issue. At least I have not seen any such posts on this or other two forums that I serve as a moderator.

You may want to try paying cash at Axis Bank.

http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/in/in-niv-paymentinfo.asp

#4

@Kalpesh_Dalwadi Thank you for taking time to respond. Makes sense and that’s the next step for us.

One more quick update:

Few hours after i posted my update earlier today, i got a notification from my indian bank that the visa fees has been returned back to my account. There was no context, no explanation on why their bank (Bank of America Mumbai) refunded me the money. I’ve never heard of this happening to anyone. I called USTravelDocs and they did not know this either and were (as usual) the least helpful.

As the DS-160 is still valid, the next step (as suggested by @Kalpesh_Dalwadi) is to go to a nearby Axis Bank and pay in cash.

This is turning into one wild adventure but today’s turn of events atleast gets closure to the radio silence for the last 30 days.

Will write back if i have more updates.

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#5

Quick Update:
After paying by cash at Axis bank, the receipt was unlocked within 12 hours and i was able to find an appointment for the dropbox VAC. The first available appointment is in May… 6 weeks away.

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