I just returned from the US Consulate in Hyderabad and the atmosphere was incredibly tense. I stood in the line for nearly two hours and observed that the vast majority of B1/B2 applicants were being turned away with refusal slips within minutes.
It wasn’t just first-timers; I saw what looked like seasoned business travelers and even a few well-known local personalities walking out looking dejected. I am supposed to be traveling for a middleware developer conference in California next month and my confidence is shaken.
Is there a specific policy shift or ‘crackdown’ happening at the Hyderabad post right now? It seemed like the student (F1) and work (H1B) counters were processing approvals normally, but the business/tourist section was a complete improper fraction of approvals. Does anyone know if they are handing out generic 214(b) rejections or are they issuing 221(g) linguistic slips for administrative processing?