B1/B2 interview waiver/renewal experience at Chennai, India

[ponyo_rocks 7]

My parents successfully renewed their B1/B2 at Chennai, India with the interview waiver option. I didn't read about many experiences online, so I thought I'd briefly share. I knew a renewal isn't possible - it is a brand new DS-160 application, but I didn't know if they could get an interview waiver (aka dropbox option) and if the overall process is any easier.

 

I helped my parents fill out the forms and make the payment of fees online, but one of them physically dropped off the applications at the ASC. I filled out a brand new DS-160 and then created a cgifederal account to "schedule an interview" - this process gives me a unique account number and bank info to make the fee payment. I used one account to add both dad & mom, if that makes sense. Once the fee payment is confirmed, the CGIfederal account receives the receipt numbers for each applicant and generates an interview waiver confirmation letter. There are a series of questions asked to determine if you qualify for interview waiver and this checklist is on the DS-160 website (last visa issue date, any stolen/cancelled visas, any rejected visa interviews). I'd not worry about it too much and let the system determine if you qualify or not.

 

Overall, I found the process quite confusing and spanning two different websites, a bank transaction with absolutely no refunds due to a mistake. Take screenshots frequently throughout the process to have something to go back to. Have another person verify info often.

 

Some Tips/Do's/Don'ts:

• A lot of captchas throughout the process - firefox is better than chrome!
• The cgifederal website account gets frozen due to repeated attempts to login for 72 hours with no way to unfreeze. There is no way to know this in advance. I would login with a plan, carefully execute it and logout. This is a terrible system for someone with a time crunch. I would also login no more than twice a day. Expect to be confused!
• For "Who is paying for your trip", I provided my own information. There is conflicting information that if the applicant pays for their trip, their chances of success are better. I had no way of verifying this and just went with the truth.
• Both websites follow different date formats - DD/MM vs MM/DD. Just have your wits around you.
• My parent only submitted what was asked for - confirmation letter, interview waiver letter, photograph, passports & visas. Nothing else was asked or provided. Anyone can submit an application at the support center.
• We paid for home delivery of passports through BlueDart and highly recommend it. There is no parking at the support center, you have to take a cab and the cost evens out. 
• DS-160 takes about 3-4 hrs to fill out per applicant. Save frequently and take screenshots!
• Application dropoff to passport home delivery took 5 business days.

 

I am just glad this is over for now.