US visa portal disruption hits Indian applicants: FIFA World Cup travel rush triggers payment, login errors
Users are reporting a range of failures, extended waits in a virtual queue, payment errors, login failures, and, in many cases, an inability to access the site at all
- Jun 3, 2026,
- Updated Jun 3, 2026 11:56 AM IST
Thousands of people trying to apply for a US visa, pay their fees, schedule an interview, or simply log in, are hitting a wall. The website they need to do all of this on has been broken for weeks, and the problems are getting worse.
What's failing and where
USTravelDocs.com, one of three primary visa scheduling platforms used by the US State Department, has been experiencing mounting technical problems. Immigration firm Berry Appleman & Leiden described the scale of the disruption plainly: the issues are "preventing visa applicants globally from applying for visas, paying processing fees, and scheduling visa interviews at US embassies and consulates abroad."
The website itself has acknowledged the breakdown with a notice on each country-specific portal: "The scheduling portal is currently experiencing technical issues, and applicants may encounter errors with the system during this time. We apologise for this inconvenience as we work to resolve the problem."
Users are reporting a range of failures, extended waits in a virtual queue, payment errors, login failures, and, in many cases, an inability to access the site at all.
Why does it hit Indians particularly hard?
For applicants in India, USTravelDocs.com is not one of several options; it is the primary platform used by US consulates and embassies across the country. The disruption is cutting across all major visa categories: tourist visas (B1/B2), student visas (F-1), work visas including H-1B, exchange visitor visas, and family-based immigration visas.
The platform is also used by US missions in Australia, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and several other countries, making this a global disruption with an outsized impact on high-volume markets like India.
Green card applicants caught in the same net
The problems extend beyond non-immigrant visas. Those applying for immigrant visas, green cards processed outside the United States, are also affected. The State Department's Consular Electronic Application Centre, used to submit Form DS-260 for immigrant visa processing, has been experiencing its own system failures.
An earlier notice on that portal advised applicants who were still facing difficulty to wait at least 24 hours before trying again.
The worst possible timing
The outage is unfolding as demand for US visas climbs ahead of the summer travel season and the FIFA World Cup 2026. The US State Department has acknowledged the technical issues and said it is working to resolve them, but for applicants already navigating long wait times and tight travel windows, that is cold comfort.
Thousands of people trying to apply for a US visa, pay their fees, schedule an interview, or simply log in, are hitting a wall. The website they need to do all of this on has been broken for weeks, and the problems are getting worse.
What's failing and where
USTravelDocs.com, one of three primary visa scheduling platforms used by the US State Department, has been experiencing mounting technical problems. Immigration firm Berry Appleman & Leiden described the scale of the disruption plainly: the issues are "preventing visa applicants globally from applying for visas, paying processing fees, and scheduling visa interviews at US embassies and consulates abroad."
The website itself has acknowledged the breakdown with a notice on each country-specific portal: "The scheduling portal is currently experiencing technical issues, and applicants may encounter errors with the system during this time. We apologise for this inconvenience as we work to resolve the problem."
Users are reporting a range of failures, extended waits in a virtual queue, payment errors, login failures, and, in many cases, an inability to access the site at all.
Why does it hit Indians particularly hard?
For applicants in India, USTravelDocs.com is not one of several options; it is the primary platform used by US consulates and embassies across the country. The disruption is cutting across all major visa categories: tourist visas (B1/B2), student visas (F-1), work visas including H-1B, exchange visitor visas, and family-based immigration visas.
The platform is also used by US missions in Australia, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, and several other countries, making this a global disruption with an outsized impact on high-volume markets like India.
Green card applicants caught in the same net
The problems extend beyond non-immigrant visas. Those applying for immigrant visas, green cards processed outside the United States, are also affected. The State Department's Consular Electronic Application Centre, used to submit Form DS-260 for immigrant visa processing, has been experiencing its own system failures.
An earlier notice on that portal advised applicants who were still facing difficulty to wait at least 24 hours before trying again.
The worst possible timing
The outage is unfolding as demand for US visas climbs ahead of the summer travel season and the FIFA World Cup 2026. The US State Department has acknowledged the technical issues and said it is working to resolve them, but for applicants already navigating long wait times and tight travel windows, that is cold comfort.