Cancelling about 2,000 visa appointments made by bots, zero tolerance for fraud: US Embassy in India
New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI): The US Embassy in India has said its consular team is "cancelling" about 2,000 visa appointments made by "bots", while asserting it has "zero tolerance" for agents and fixers who violate its scheduling policies.
The embassy informed this in a notice shared in a post on X on Wednesday.
A senior US official also confirmed the development.
"Consular Team India is cancelling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies," the embassy wrote on the social media platform.
The notice shared in the post underlined that the team has "identified bad actors" who made about 2,000 visa appointments that "violated our scheduling policies".
"Effective immediately, we are cancelling these appointments and suspending the associated accounts' scheduling privileges," it said.
"We will continue our anti-fraud efforts. We have zero tolerance for fraud," the notice says.
There is a very high demand for the US visas, both among students and tourists, besides travellers in other categories.
In 2023, the US Mission in India had processed a record 1.4 million visas overall.
The American universities attract a large number of Indian students, and the US consular team in India had in 2023 issued over 1,40,000 student visas -- more than in any other country.
Consular Team India is canceling about 2000 visa appointments made by bots. We have zero tolerance for agents and fixers that violate our scheduling policies. pic.twitter.com/ypakf99eCo
— U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) March 26, 2025
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ED raids underway at five places in Kolkata over 'irregularities' in NRI quota medical admissions
Kolkata (PTI): Raids are underway by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at five locations in and around Kolkata on Tuesday in connection with its probe into the alleged irregularities in admission to private medical colleges under the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota, an official said.
ED sleuths started simultaneous raids in the Ballygunge area in the southern part of the city and New Town on the outskirts of the eastern metropolis, he said.
"We are conducting raids in connection with the irregularities in NRI quota admissions. There is a coaching centre in New Town which is being searched," a senior ED official said.
The central probe agency is investigating whether documents were forged to create false NRI credentials for admission of local Indian students in medical colleges in Odisha's Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.
