US Consulates and US Embassies provide US Visa stamping services for anyone seeking a US Visa. As part of the process to apply for US Visa, one needs to book an appointment for the same at these locations. Depending on the country and demand for a US Visa, there can be wait times for getting US Visa appointments. To avoid long wait times and abuse of the appointment system, the US consulates limit the number of times someone can use the visa appointment fee(MRV Fee) to schedule or change appointments.
In this article, we will outline what a US visa appointment reschedule means, how it varies by country, and how many times you can do the same with guidance from official sources and communication with the visa appointment system support team.
What is rescheduling or changing US Visa Appointment?
If, for some reason, you cannot attend your US Visa appointment, either for an in-person visa interview with the consular officer or for giving Biometrics, the visa appointment booking system provides an option to change the appointment date and time.
This option to modify or change the visa appointment times is called the rescheduling or change of appointments option. This change of appointment can be done for the in-person Visa interview at a US Consulate, for the biometrics appointment at the Visa Application Center (VAC), or for both.
How to reschedule or change US Visa appointment? Confirmation?
Depending on the country, the US Visa appointment booking website is different. If you go to the main webpage USTravelDocs.com, which is managed by CGI Federal, it will point you to the correct website related to a particular country.
For some countries, the appointment booking website is portal.ustraveldocs.com , for some it is ais.usvisa-info.com, and for countries like India, it is www.USVisaScheduling.com. Depending on the website you use for appointment booking, the process can vary. We have given guide for portal.ustraveldocs.com and USVisascheduling.com websites in below sections.
US Visa Appointment reschedule option for USVisaScheduling.com (India)
Below is the high level process to reschedule an appointment on the USVisaScheduling.com website that is used for appointment booking in India.
- If you have an appointment already booked, after you login, you will see an option on the left hand side navigation that says “Reschedule Appointment”
- You need to click on the “Reschedule Appointment” option link on the left hand navigation. It looks like in the below screenshot.
- After you click the “reschedule appointment” option you will be taken to the next screen, where you can select the location, date and time and able to reschedule the appointment. It looks like this in the screenshot below. If successful, you would get a confirmation at the end saying the new details of the appointment and you can print the confirmation letter of the same.
US Visa Appointment reschedule option for Portal.USTravelDocs.com
Below is how the appointment reschedule option works for portal.ustraveldocs.com. This website is used to book US Visa appointments in countries like Singapore, China, Bangladesh, etc.
If you are scheduling an appointment for the first time on portal.ustraveldocs.com, you would see only the option that says “New Application / Schedule Appointment” as in the below screenshot on the left-hand side navigation. After you do this step, then you will see the re-schedule option.
Once you book the appointment and want to reschedule or change the same, you will have the option to reschedule, cancel, or even request an emergency appointment. To reschedule, you should click on the option in left-hand navigation that says “Reschedule Appointment”. It will clearly tell on this screen about your current appointment, when it is scheduled on the screen saying “Your current appointment is scheduled for …”.
Also, you would see on the top where it says, if it is for biometrics at OFC or for a visa interview. See the below screenshot that shows the same.
After you reschedule the appointment and it is successful, you would get a confirmation message that says “Your Appointment has been rescheduled”. You can also see the history of your US Visa appointment reschedules that you have done by clicking on the “Appointment History” in the left navigation, it will show you the complete list of your previous and current appointments with Appointment Date, Applicant Name, Consulate/ Post location, Visa Type and Status.
Now that we understand how to reschedule appointment, let’s look at how many times you can reschedule the US Visa appointment.
How many times can I change my US Visa appointment?
The number of times you can change or reschedule the US Visa appointment varies by country. Depending on the staff and wait times for appointments, you can re-schedule the visa appointments in the online system anywhere from one to six times.
The US Consulates or US Embassy in a particular country defines how many times you can schedule an appointment with a Visa application fee receipt (Machine Readable Visa(MRV) fee receipt). We will look at the number of times for some of the common countries like India, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, and others.
How many times can I reschedule my US Visa appointment in India?
You can apply for US Visa appointment in India at four US consulates ( Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata) and one US embassy (New Delhi). The appointment booking system is at USVisaScheduling.com and is managed by CGI Federal.
In the past, no official information was given by the US Embassy or USTravelDocs on how many times you can reschedule an appointment. In December 2024, the US Embassy announced that applicants can reschedule their US Visa appointment only once. If they want to reschedule a second time or do not show up at the appointment time, they need to again pay the US Visa appointment fee to book an appointment.
Below is the screenshot of the official announcement on the USTracelDocs India website landing page.
The system will show a message that says, “You may only reschedule 1 more time. If you continue you will be unable to reschedule again”. This message appears on the appointment manager page and also when you try to reschedule an appointment. It looks like in the below screenshot.
In the past, applicants could reschedule US Visa appointments in India on USVisaScheduling.com for up to 3 times + initial appointment. But, this changed starting from January 1st, 2025. Now, you can only reschedule once + initial appointment.
You may reach out to US Consulates in India using their email, phone for more info or any questions.
What happens if US Consulate Cancels appointment? Do I lose a chance?
If the US Consulate or Embassy cancels the appointment for whatever reason it may be, they will waive the scheduling chance for the cancellation. This means they will not add up the total rescheduling count. Below is the screenshot of the confirmation from the USTravelDocs customer service on the same that says they will waive that chance.
When you fill DS-160 form, you might have selected a Consulate location for an interview, but often times you may end up booking an appointment at a different location. In that case, you may wonder, how can you update DS 160 location after submission. For full info on that, read Can you update DS-160 location after submission? US Dept of State Guidance
How would I know if I had used all my chances to reschedule an appointment?
Depending on the website, you would get a message that indicates if you have one last chance. In India, for USVisaScheduling.com website, you would get a message that says, “You may only reschedule 1 more time. If you continue you will be unable to reschedule again”. This message appears on the appointment manager page and also when you try to reschedule an appointment. It looks like this in the screenshot below.
If you are using Portal.USTraveldocs.com website, you will see a message that says “If you cancel this appointment, then you will have exceeded the limit of appointments canceled, and will not be able to schedule another appointment until another MRV fee is paid”. The text looks like in the below screenshot.
How many times can I reschedule my US Visa appointment in the Philippines?
The demand for US Visa appointments is much higher and there are fewer locations in the Philippines. So, US Embassy in Manila has restricted the total appointments. You can reschedule your appointment in Philippines up to three times. This does not include the initial appointment.
See the below official guidance from their website on USTraveldocs.com
How many times do Japan Consulates allow rescheduling of US Visa Appointments?
Japan also used USVisaScheduling.com website for US Visa appointment booking. You can reschedule your US Visa appointment up to 6 times in Japan. If you exceed the 6 times, then you need to pay new MRV fee. Check the screenshot below from the USTravelDocs.com Japan website.
How many times can you reschedule US Visa appointments in Thailand?
As per the USTravelDocs website of Thailand, after the launch of USVisaScheduling.com website, it says you can reschedule your appointment up to three times. Below is the screenshot of the guidance as it appears on their USTravelDocs Thailand Website.
As you can see, every country has different rules. The number of times you can re-schedule your US Visa appointment varies. So, you must reach out to the US Consulate or USTravelDocs CGI federal support team to get the correct answer.
What was your experience re-scheduling your appointment in your country ? Add your comments, thoughts in comments.
Hello, I need to update my DS-160 number in my confirmation. How can this be done? could you please help? This is for India application
Hi
I have an appointment for H1B visa stamping at the end of May 2024. I would like to change that to May 2025 (so one more year). I am trying to find the best way to do this.
1. Is it good to cancel May 2024 appointment and later book May 2025 appointment when the dates are open in the future?
Note: I think that the MRV Fee receipt can not be used after an year of paying the fee.
2. Or keep rescheduling my May 2024 appointment until I get May 2025 appointment?
Note: I do understand that there may be a limit in the number of reschedules.
Vijay,
1. Well, if you are not sure, you could cancel it and book when the dates open.
2. Technically, this is the best option to reschedule it to a date closer to your target date or after your target date. This way the fees will not be wasted. Just need to be careful on how many times you can reschedule as you will limit after few times.
What time is suitable to login to usvisascheduling.com and do a reschedule ?
Do they open up slots regularly ?
I have rescheduled my B1/B2 visa appointment three times already and now I want to reschedule again for a personal reason. Now if I pay the MRV again, will I lose the appointment that I currently have or will I just get option to reschedule in the CGI federal portal
Hello,
Last year I have scheduled my H1B visa appointment for July 2023 at Chennai Consulate, India. Now I am thinking to change my status to H4 from H1B. Is it possible to convert H1B visa appointment to H4 visa appointment? If so, what is the procedure to convert?
In India, you can reschedule your dropbox appointment 2 times + initial appointment. please do not waste, as I was not aware about this, now I don’t have option to reschedule further.
I have used all of my 3 reschedule attempt. Now due to some emergency I want to get earlier schedule. How can I do that? Do I need to cancel the current appointment? How to pay new visa fee ?
Hi, I don’t have any answers for you.. but please let me know if you find any information regarding this as I am in same boat as you
For the benefit of anyone wondering about reschedule limits, for India it is 3 reschedules after initial appointment. If you see a message like –
“If you cancel this appointment, then you will have exceeded the limit of appointments canceled, and will not be able to schedule another appointment until another MRV fee has been paid.”
It means you have one last reschedule left. After you reschedule (after the above message appears), you are done and cannot reschedule anymore with the MRV. You won’t even see the reschedule Link. This is from my personal experience. Hope this helps.
Ravi,
Thanks for sharing your personal experience, it helps community!
Thanks Ravi..!!
It was really helpful.
What if for some reason I have to again reschedule? Can I pay MRV fee again and get the appointment? Is there any cooling period to do so ?
Hi ABi,
I am in same boat.Did you got any information on this. Any cooling period to pay MRV fee again?.
Hi Ravi,
Thanks for the information. This helped and I could reschedule 3 times only. After that the link disappeared.
Thanks
Hi Aditi
So you scheduled + 3 times rescheduled right? I am getting same alert so wanted to confirm if I can reschedule or not
You rescheduled after you get below error?
I am getting the message that
If you cancel this appointment, then you will have exceeded the limit of appointments canceled, and will not be able to schedule another appointment until another MRV fee has been paid.
Hi,any idea how to repay the MRV fees ?
TIA
I already exhausted my reschedule option and latest date i got is march 2023 and i need feb because of personal reasons. Do i need to cancel my march 2023 appointment before i able to see option to pay again?
Hi Rahul
Can you share how many times you scheduled + reschedule and for which location?
TIA
Hi Rahul
Can you share how many times you scheduled + rescheduled and for which location?
TIA
Hi Rahul
How many times you scheduled and rescheduled and for which location?
Hi Rahul, did you find any solution? do we have to start new application and pay visa fee? what will happen to the existing Mar appointment?
I wanted to check on following:
While applying for my mother B1/B2 visa ( she is more than 80 years old and applying for the first time) and we stay in Chandigarh
Accordingly, she was eligible for dropbox and we got an appointment for US visa at Delhi VAC as there is no option for Chandigarh in the dropdown menu.
Can I drop my documents at Chandigarh centre at the given date/ time slot or do I have to go to Delhi for doing so.
Thanks
I am Pandemic Visa case when i applied in 2020 and it got cancelled . I have been logging in continuously since 2021 . I have never seen the Interview calendar opening . Only the message Currently no appointments available . what does that mean ? Is Visa interviews not happening or it hasbeen booked already ? Its very frustrating how we Indians are not getting the B1/ B2 Visa , while the consulate news says they have opened for all categories . Could you please tell us what is the real issue?
I applied for US B1/B2 visa on 15 th April but did not got the appointment date yet.
I used to check for the OFC and interview date by clicking on the ‘Continue’ option on the left navigation bar. But now I could not see the continue option, it is only showing me ‘ New application/Schedule appointment ‘ option. Why it is so?
Should I go for the new application and can I use the same receipt number for Fees?
Hi,
I had got selected for h1b in sep 2021 year, due to some personal, it was delay till now. now i got interview slot in may2022.
1. delay for stamping visa for one year, Is it fine?
2. Can i reschedule to prior date of first appointment, if any slots available (any luck).
I have applied for US B1/B2 visa and i am eligible for interview waiver as per the guidelines, however, the OFC/Drop box date which i am getting is almost 1.5 months after the 48 months visa expiry date.
I think i must apply for the normal visa processing because it is clearly mentioned in the visa guidelines that the dropbox appointment should be scheduled at-least 7 days prior to the 48 months from the visa expiry date.
How can i book the normal OFC and Visa Interview because if i answer questions as per wizard, it always gives me to book dropbox appointment only
How to start new application if you cancel the current scheduled appointment ?
Hello,
My first H1 is stamped in 2015 & expired in 2016.This is my first time traveling along with 3 H4 and my current visa is valid till next year. Is this a reason for not being eligible for IW?
HI,
Well, if you fill the questionnaire, all of them should qualify for IW, to be eligible for IW.
Hello, my visa interview dates for F 4 cstegory is on 19th may,can I reschedule my visa interview dates now for the later dates of July?
Is it possible to cancel B2 visa appointment and reuse the MRV fee for new H1B appointment in India?
Does submitting DS160, fee and appointment of B2 mean Consulate/USCIS has started the process and my record with uscis will include this?
Kabir,
Check with the customer support as this is not very common.
Hello,
Can I book an OFC appointment even when I’m eligible for dropbox?
Thank you!
Sanket Tomar
Sanket,
You dont need biometrics for dropbox.
Hey Kumar,
Sorry, i think I might have mis-quoted my question. What I’m trying to ask is even though I’m eligible for dropbox, can i still book an interview appointment by answering one of the questions(that determine dropbox eligibility) incorrectly? Thanks!
Sanket,
No, you should not. That is saying false information and you can be denied visa as you did not tell the truth.
Hi,
I want to reschedule my visa appointment (both OFC and VAC). But when I go for rescheduling, it shows only for VAC.
If I reschedule VAC appointment, will the system automatically reschedule OFC appointment as well?
Kishore,
VAC and OFC both are same. Did you mean Biometrics and Visa Interview ? If so, you can do that, only if the slots are available, if not, it will not be successful.
there is discrepancy under the section in the article above:
“If you cancel this appointment, then you will have exceeded the limit of appointments canceled, and will not be able to schedule another appointment until another MRV fee is paid”
This means , if you cancel, its gone with the current MRC receipt, but you can still reschedule 1 more time (final reschedule). I verified with the customer service agent.
Anika,
The number of times you rescheduled before is what matters. In total, you get 5 times, including the first time booking.
Hi there,
You only get total of 4 times, once you get that message. that’s it done. You not able to get option to schedule the appointment, have to pay the new fee.
This would be 4 times of (ofc + consular) right? or each appointment is considered seperate? I only rescheduled twice and I am getting that message. Had to do ofc + consular both times because we have to select both before we are able to reschedule
I rescheduled only 2 times (ofc+consular) and I am getting that message “if you cancel this you will have exceeded….”. According to article we can do 4 reschedules right? does this mean reschedule of ofc+consular or are they both counted seperately? because we cannot book one without the other and when we reschedule we have to schedule both and the same biometrics appointment may not be available.
Correct. I can verify this as I had one more chance to reschedule after I got that message. It’s very deceiving and because of that the information provided in this page is incorrect.
Selvaram,
Interesting. In general, when you see the message, your chances are done as per the system. Also, it is validated by support and many of our users validated it. Not sure about why you had the extra one more time, it could have been a bug. If you are in doubt, you should contact the customer service I guess.
Are u very sure, did u try after u got this warning message? I m also getting same msg, what should i do next as i cant attend the interview n i fear i will loose my visa fee amount
I tried to reschedule first time I cannot do it. Mumba in oct 2022 original but Kolkata slot is available in jun 16 , when I try to book it for ofc and continue, it shows mumbai no slot. why is it not letting my book Kolkata appointment. I have not rescheduled even single time.
Please help
sam,
It is because, there are no open slots. It is about available open slots, nothing to do with how many times you have rescheduled.
Is reschedule is free? Or they would charge?
Hello, I had taken help from an agent to reschedule my appointment. He booked it for the wrong date and now all I see is a “group scheduling request” and not the reschedule appointment option. I have already once canceled before and rescheduled 4 times
Can I do this one final time?
Anisha,
If you see the message on the top as in above article, you cannot do re-scheduling, you will lose the receipt and need to pay again. If you are in doubt, call the customer service.
Any update on the above question?
Hi,
I have paid my visa fees and i can see the receipt number as well now. When i move next, it shows me to Schedule OFC appointment. I had few clarifications regarding the same –
1. Once selected and confirmed the slot, can i change the OFC appointment? If yes, how many times?
2. After the OFC slot selection, will there be another option to select the slot for visa appointment or is it the same as OFC appointment?
Thanks
I only rescheduled two times (1 original + 2 rescheduled) but when I try to reschedule again it gives me an error saying “you are approaching the maximum number of times you may view this page. Please complete your transaction at this time.” Does this mean I cannot reschedule more with this receipt or do I just need to wait for a few days?
Its means you can made enough views before your account gets locked out. Logout and wait for some time, I would say 4 to 6 hours and log back in and retry.This is what happened to me .
1.Initial schedule.
2.Reschule the initial schedule.
3.Cancel the reschedule.
4.New schedule.
5.Acidentally cancelled the schedule.
6.Got new schedule again for April 20th .
Now it shows me that I have reached the limit and I will need to pay MRV fee if I make any changes to the schedule. I am posting this for others benefit . It tehcnically allows 2 cancellations and 2 reschedules.
Hope this helps.
Shyam
Shyam,
Thanks for sharing. Yes, for India consulates, it is a total of 5 times including the first time you schedule.
Kumar,
According to what Shyam mentioned he have done totally 4 times including the first schedule, so after the warning msg still we got one last chance to reschedule right?
Nila,
If you see the message, you will not get another chance. It clearly tells that.
actually we have scheduled for H4 appointment at chennai first and rescheduled to Hyderabad on May. But not we want to schedule in June at chennai. now how to do it. whether to cancel and new schedule or directly reschedule. regards lalitha
I booked my OFC slot and interview slots, but unfortunately, for some reason I had to cancel them. Now can I reschedule my both OFC and interview appointment for next dates or do I need to pay visa fee again for the appointment.
Vandana,
As long as you have not exceeded the number of attempts, you can still re-schedule without paying fee again.
I have currently exceeded the limit of appointments canceled with my current MRV fee receipt. Does anyone know how I can pay MRV fee again and update the receipt in my profile so that I will be able to reschedule again?
Rish ,
where u able to find this out ? I have the same problem. I ran out of rescheduling attempt but I still want to pay and reschedule.
Hi Rish,
Were you ever able to do this ? How did this go ? I am also looking to do this ?
any update?
Hi Kris, Sid, Rish
Can you please elaborate on how did new MRV fees worked?
Hello, have u booked total 5 times?
I have this same question too. Were you able to reschedule it using new MRV fee?
Hi,
I have booked the appointment for Oct 2022 but want earlier slots, so can I can book an earlier date for OFC and VAC.
If not can I cancel or reschedule with the same MRV fees?
Hi, Even i have the same question. Can someone help with it?
Did you get the answers to this ? Even I have the same question . Please help.
Hi,
Did you get a response for this question? can we reschedule for an earlier slot?
Yes you can reschedule it for earlier dates, To reschedule, you should click on the option in left hand navigation that says “Reschedule Appointment”.
Hi,
I received the message from the screenshot (If you cancel this appointment, you will have exceeded…) in India even though I have used the MRV fee only 4 times up to now (original scheduled appointment plus 3 reschedules). So this means that once you get this message you still have one attempt remaining, right? Has anyone attempted to reschedule after getting this mesage?
Hello Amit
Mine also facing same problem it is showing same like in screenshot i rescheduled 3 times with one initial appointment. Am i able to reschedule the appointment one more time?
Salla, Amit,
If you are getting the message, you might lose the receipt validity, if you try to reschedule. The best thing to do is reach out to consulate / us travel docs support for the same. You can check the history to see exactly how many times you have rescheduled.
You should get it a total of 5 times including the initial appointment.
Hello Salla
Were you able to get this resolved with traveldocs?
Did it let you reschedule the 4th time?
Hello Amit
Were you able to get this resolved?
Did it let you reschedule one more time after 3rd rescheduling?
Yes this is true. I just did yesterday.
Hi Venkat
How many times you scheduled and rescheduled and for which location?