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What changed on 29 July 2023
Effective from 29 July 2023, the USA visa appointment portal in India moved to a completely new platform. The old system was powered by CGI Federal — if you try to log in there now, you will see a message saying your account is blocked. Please do not panic. Your account is not blocked. That old platform is simply no longer active.
The important thing to understand is that only the appointment portal has changed. The DS-160 form portal — the US Travel Docs portal where you fill in your visa application — remains exactly the same. The way the form looks, the fields it asks for, everything is unchanged. What has changed is the portal where you pay your visa fees, book your appointments, check your schedule, and manage your delivery or pickup preference.
The new portal: where to find it and what it looks like
The new portal is at usvisascheduling.com. This platform is powered by Microsoft and it looks quite different from the old CGI Federal interface. One thing worth knowing is that this is actually the same platform already used in many other countries — the Middle East, Australia, Canada — so India has now moved to that same unified system. It is clean, well-organised, and straightforward once you are inside.
How to migrate your profile to the new portal
Even if you already have a visa appointment booked, your appointment remains valid — you do not need to rebook anything. However, you do need to recreate your account on the new platform. This applies to everyone who had an account on the old portal, whether or not you have an upcoming appointment.
You cannot simply enter your old email and password — the system will not let you in. Here are the steps to follow:
Step-by-step: setting up your account on the new portal
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2. You will be asked to create a username. This is new — the old platform did not require one. Choose anything you will remember.
3. Create a new password and confirm it. Your old password will not work here.
4. Enter your email address. Use the same email ID you used on the old CGI Federal account — do not switch to a different one.
5. The portal will send an OTP to that email address. This is an added security layer that did not exist before. Retrieve the OTP and enter it.
6. Set up three security questions. The old platform had just one; the new platform requires three. Choose your questions, enter your answers, and save them.
7. Click Submit, accept the terms and conditions, and you are in.
What is different inside the new portal
Once you are inside, there are three key changes worth knowing about compared to the old platform.
First, and most importantly, the Update Profile section is gone. On the old portal you could go into your profile and directly change your DS-160 confirmation number — for example, if you had filled a new form and needed to update the number. That option no longer exists on the new portal.
Second, there is now a direct Support tab on the left menu. This was not available before. You can use it to contact customer support and send in queries directly.
Third, the Appointment Confirmation tab looks different. It is more detailed than before, and when you print your appointment confirmation page it will also look different from what you may have seen previously.
Can you still update your DS-160 number on the new portal?
This is the question I am getting most often, and I want to address it clearly. There is no direct way to update your DS-160 confirmation number on the new portal. However, there are two workarounds.
The first option is to contact customer support through the Support tab and ask them to update your DS-160 number on your behalf. So if you realised there is an error and you have filled a new form, reach out to support with the new confirmation number and request the update.
The second option is to get it updated at your biometrics appointment. In India, the biometrics date is typically scheduled before the interview date. When you go for biometrics, you can bring your new DS-160 confirmation page and request the staff to update the number on your file.
That said, my strong advice is to be extremely careful before you submit your DS-160 in the first place. Read it thoroughly, get it reviewed by someone you trust, and do not hit submit until you are completely sure. The DS-160 is the only form the visa officer has in front of them during your interview — it matters enormously. If you would like help reviewing your form, that is something I can help you with.
Quick summary of everything you need to do
If you are feeling overwhelmed, here is the short version:
1. The old CGI Federal portal is no longer active. If you see a 'blocked' message, do not panic.
2. The new portal is at usvisascheduling.com.
3. You cannot log in with your old credentials. Go to the new link and recreate your profile using your old email address but a new username, new password, and three new security questions.
4. Any existing appointments you have booked remain valid — nothing changes there.
5. If you need to update your DS-160 number, use the Support tab to contact customer support or request the update at your biometrics appointment.
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