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Your Group Size is larger than the Current Allocation – U.S. Visa Error, Fix ?

To apply for US Visa Stamping at a US Consulate or US Embassy, you need to use the US Visa Appointment Online booking system at ustraveldocs.com. The actual online appointment booking system is redirected to CGI Federal website that runs on Salesforce’s force.com platform. Sometimes, when you are trying to book an appointment, you might see the error “Your group size is larger than the current allocation”.

This article will review the reason for the error and how to fix the same errors based on past user experiences.

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“Your Group Size is Larger than the current allocation” : US Visa Appointment Booking Error

In the below sections, we discuss the reason for the error, why it occurs, and what are the common solutions as suggested by previous users who got the same error.

What is the Issue? Why this error ?

When you are trying to book US Visa Appointment for an in-person interview, dropbox appointment, or for biometrics at VAC, you may sometimes get the error that says “Your group size is larger than the current allocation”. It looks like in the below screenshot. Below are the common reasons for the issue and the error.

  • Scheduling Biometrics at VAC or OFC Center: You may get the error, “Your group size is larger than the current allocation”, when you are trying to book Biometrics Appointment at an Offsite Facilitation Center (OFC). The OFC center is now called as Visa Application Center(VAC) and same as OFC. Basically, you get this error when you are scheduling OFC Appointment or VAC Appointment.
  • Scheduling In-Person Consular Visa Interview Appointment: You may get the same error when you are tying to book the in-person Consular visa interview appointment in the second step after booking the OFC or VAC Appointment.
  • Emergency Visa Appointment Booking: You can get the error, “Your group size is larger than the current allocation”, when you are trying to book the Emergency Appointment(EA) slot after your EA request was approved by the US consulate or US Embassy.
  • All Visa Categories: This same error can appear for all visa types like H1B, H4, F1, B1/B2, etc. It is not specific to a particular visa type like a work visa or student visa.
your group size is larger than the current allocation - OFC Appointment
your group size is larger than the current allocation – OFC Appointment
your group size is larger than the current allocation - Schedule Consular Appointment
your group size is larger than the current allocation – Schedule Consular Appointment

What is the reason for the Error “Your group size is larger…” ?

You may get this error for a variety of reasons. One of the most common reasons for the error is the fact that the appointment slots are not available when you are trying to book the slot, especially when you go to the appointment booking page.

When you navigate to the visa appointment booking page, the online booking system gives you the open slots available at that point in time like at that minute and second. By the time you figure out and select the date and time, it could be some seconds or less than a minute, the previous slots that were showed may not be available as others would have taken them.

Now, when the system tries to book you the slot you selected and confirm it, it re-checks the same again and if the slot was already taken by someone else, it will show the error “Your group is larger than the current allocation“. Sometimes slots fill up fast and within a minute or so and you may lose the slot. That’s why you get this weird error. There is no holding of the slot in the system for you for some time, when you are on that page. That is the reason for the error.

How to fix the error “Your group size …” ? Solution?

Below are some common solutions that were suggested by USTravelDocs support and many of our users in community, who spoke to the customer service and resolved the same.

  • Try after few hours: As per USTravelDocs Support, the most common issue is due to lack of appointment slots. They suggest to check for the appointment after every 5 to 6 hours and see if this error occurs again. If there are slots available, you would be able to book.
  • Call the Customer Service: If the error still exists after few hours, then you should call or email the USTravelDocs Customer Service. This email and phone number varies by country. For India, the support email is support-india@ustraveldocs.com and share your issue, they will guide and fix the error. They would sometimes do something in the backend to fix the error. It depends on your case and why you are getting the same.
  • Approved Emergency Appointment Request, not able to book Slot: If the above two options do not work and in cases where you have EA request approved, but continue to get the above error “your group size is larger than the current allocation”, then you can email the consulate you are booking EA appointment with and attach your EA request details again asking for help. You should get a response in 1 to 2 days, if not follow up. Check US Consulates India Emails and Phone info.

What was your experience trying to solve the error? Share your experience in the comments below.

You can also check out details of other common errors likeError occurred while loading a Visaualforce Page”  or “Your personal details match the profile which already exists in our database...”

   

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26 Comments

      • Kumar ,

        I got approved for emergency appointment and as per email I can book the emergency appointment till 28th April but its already 26th April and I am still getting same error , I sent email several times but no results , talked to customer care and they are saying we have escalated your case from past three days, dont know what to do now.

        Reply
  1. Hello, I am from Nepal. I requested an emergency appointment and they approved it. However, I am getting the error “your group size is larger than the current allocation”. They set expire date of emergency appointment i.e. after 6 days , and it is not working. What can I do? Please can you fix this problem or tell me how to fix it?

    Reply
  2. Hello, I am from Lebanon. I requested an emergency appointment and they accepted it. However, I am getting the error “your group size is larger than the current allocation”. I only have five days left to book a new appointment, and it is not working. What can I do? Please can you fix this problem or tell me how to fix it?

    Reply
  3. I booked a dropbox appointment for 4 of us in June. Requested for an Emergency appointment, got approved.
    When I went to portal & click on Continue, I saw this error. The actual problem is If you are eligible to dropbox, you cannot get Emergency appointment. Then I clicked on New application, changed type as H4 & primary applicant as my wife. Questions changed.
    I answered Yes to a question about any applicant below 12 years. Now they are not eligible for dropbox. I could book appointment.
    That appointment was booked for 4 of us. I was NO SHOW. They used it & came to USA.

    Now I had an Emergency situation within a month. I checked portal. It was showing all 4 members. My fee receipt is showing up. It was expecting 3 more fees. I raised a ticket to remove my family members. They did that. Now I am the only applicant. Type is H1. I am eligible for dropbox. So I see same error again. I called them & explained. They are saying No Emergency for dropbox eligible candidates – Not sure what kind of justice it is. My only sin here in entire scenario is I am eligible for dropbox.

    Reply
  4. hello I am from Nepal. I got email from consular to book appointment for 7th july however I couldn’t book my appointment as it shows error saying my case id is not found. I have contacted embassy several times but my issue hasn’t resolved. Now as the time passes by it seems i couldn’t book my appointment . I will be grateful if you can resolve it.

    Reply
  5. Hi, I am trying to schedule an appointment and after filling all the details and paying the visa fees, the page says “There are currently no appointment slots available.” This has been happening for the last week. I also wrote to USTravelDocs and they said they can’t help me as appointments are subject to availability. But I can’t see any available slots. Could someone please help me? Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Anurag,
      It means that there are no slots. You need to keep looking. The Consulates are open fully yet, so you may not find slots. Keep checking. Not much anyone can do.

      Reply
  6. Kumar,

    I was trying to reschedule my appointment, I found the slots, but after selecting the dates, it shows an error message “Error scheduling your appointment. Please try again”.

    Appreciate if anyone point me to the right direction on how to get out of this issue.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  7. I was getting this error and called the customer service few times. I was told that as I have dropbox eligibility even I have EA request approved I might not get any slot as system automatically does that. I kept trying on website and called and emailed but got same response. I am confused that if EA is approved how does dropbox eligibility restrict if it’s true emergency and EA is approved.

    Reply
    • Jit,
      Apparently, it is a bug in the system. Try to write to the consulate again and USTravelDocs again. There was one user, who had similar issue like yours but managed to book after few discussions with Consulate and customer support.

      Reply
      • Kumar,
        I’m facing the same issue. Got EA approved but couldn’t schedule appointment. Initially there was only VAC appointment was seen but no interview appointments. Now, I’m seeing this error “Your group size is larger than the current allocation”.
        This is for a L2 Visa renewal stamping. I suppose its eligible drop box. Is it because of this ?

        Appreciate if any one point me to right direction on how to get out of this issue.
        Thank you!

        Reply

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