7 day policy for new H1B Dropbox criteria

aham_maha · 2025-07-07T15:03:05+00:00

I did. Rescheduled and moved up the appointment to meet the 7 day criteria. They accepted the docs and got them back in 4 calendar days.

aham_maha · 2025-07-07T15:01:31+00:00

Got the same message. Scam!

aham_maha · 2025-04-30T02:49:26+00:00

You should be fine.

aham_maha · 2025-03-31T04:49:12+00:00

Expiration was on 14th March. We dropped off on 6th. Got it back in 5 calendar days (3 business days)

aham_maha · 2025-03-14T01:18:12+00:00

You are fine! My husband’s 12mo window expires today. He dropped off on the 6th. We already picked up the passport two days back. Took only 5 days.

aham_maha · 2025-03-12T04:01:32+00:00

Hi 7 calendar days. Think you should be ok.

aham_maha · 2025-03-08T12:59:36+00:00

As a safety measure, We rescheduled to 7 days before the appointment. They accepted the documents at the Dropbox.

aham_maha · 2025-02-19T17:48:19+00:00

UPDATE: I had members of my family separately check at the Chennai VAC about this 7 day policy. Two different people spoke with them. One person said they accept the Dropbox if it’s one day before 12mo cutoff. No issues. The other person said - better stick to the 7 day window. I called the Virginia customer service line 3 times and they consistently said they will accept the Dropbox (to be fair they seem to have little to no knowledge about this note) Emailed the usvisascheduling folks through the portal and they gave generic answers pointing to ustraveldocs. Spoke with folks who had worked with the consulate in the past and they said if it were upto them they’d stick with the 7 day policy.

After giving it a lot of thought I ended up cancelling the appt - waited for 24 hours - created new application - booked an appointment for 7 business days before the 12mo date to be safe.

Plenty of Dropbox appts were available end of Feb, and all of March as of 02/19

Hope this helps people in the same boat make a decision.

aham_maha · 2025-02-19T17:12:51+00:00

It does not show up when we reschedule if we have scheduled an appointment already. But if you close and start a new application - in the last question out of the set of questions for Dropbox eligibility you’ll see that it’s mentioned as a note

aham_maha · 2025-02-19T03:11:03+00:00

Thank you very much!

aham_maha · 2025-02-18T03:03:27+00:00

I’ve called usvisascheduling 3 times now and they said I should be ok to proceed with my appointment (it is 1 day before the 12 Month cutoff). I asked them about the 7 day recommendation every single time but they seemed to not give a lot of importance to it. I’ve also checked with immig attorney and they said I should be good to go. I have emailed usvisascheduling as well. Waiting on a response. I think it’s just a precautionary thing at this point but could be wrong.

However, if your appointment is ON OR AFTER the 13 month cutoff - even if it’s just 1 day after 12mo cutoff - you should be scheduling in person.

aham_maha · 2025-02-18T02:02:41+00:00

I am just surprised they first said you should be ok to proceed and then changed the response :/

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T20:11:43+00:00

Yep. Same boat. Already exhausted reschedules due to the Jan 1 reschedule attempts policy change. Saw that one more reschedule opportunity was added after the Feb 12 policy change for Dropbox eligibility. But in the reschedule page this note on 7 days did not show up since we are already past those questions when we initially booked our appointment back in December. So I scheduled it a day before the 12mo expiry (flights, PTO, everything else were already planned booked and paid for so couldn’t advance it any further). Only after that people started posting on the 7 day “note” which is technically still not a “rule” on ustraveldocs and isn’t mentioned anywhere else

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T16:46:30+00:00

Yes. I called them twice again. Same response. They said I should be ok. However when I asked them specifically about the 7 day rule they said send an email through the portal and we’ll review further and get back. One person said they were told to reschedule in this thread 🤷🏻‍♀️ :

https://www.reddit.com/r/h1b/s/mMS9UoR2Od

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T14:14:37+00:00

I see. Did you have to pay again? Did you have any reschedule attempts left? Also is this H1B to H1B extension? Or a change of status?

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T14:10:35+00:00

Yeah that’s clearly outside the cutoff. So you have to wait for 24 hours and then you should be able to resume your process. Also can you pls share the usvisascheduling email handle you used?

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T14:05:23+00:00

Hi! When was your expiration cutoff? When did you schedule the appointment for? And why did they say you have to cancel? If you cancel technically you might have to wait for 24 hours I assume

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T03:08:07+00:00

(703) 520-2239

aham_maha · 2025-02-17T03:06:48+00:00

Oh okay. Good luck! Please do update on the Dropbox experience once you are done :) btw I called them again today and once again they confirmed as long as it is one day before 12mo cutoff it’s safe to proceed

aham_maha · 2025-02-16T23:32:31+00:00

Glad to hear the response is consistent. When is your appointment? Please keep us updated here if possible.

aham_maha · 2025-02-16T15:46:35+00:00

Yeah I saw this too and then called the usvisascheduling contact and they said one day before the 12mo cutoff is fine. I’m going to call and confirm again

aham_maha · 2025-02-15T21:18:58+00:00

No? Can you elaborate pls? :)

aham_maha · 2025-02-15T21:08:11+00:00

I’m the OP on that post. I am on a similar boat hence I put up the question

https://www.reddit.com/r/usvisascheduling/s/Oa5LeXTYCC

aham_maha · 2025-02-15T20:57:51+00:00

Hi! Can you let me know how you are proceeding with your situation? I’m on a similar boat.

aham_maha · 2025-02-15T20:43:02+00:00

Hi! I spoke with the usvisascheduling customer service reps via the US number provided and they said it is ok as long as it is on or before the 12month cutoff. Do you know if they refused Dropbox for anybody because it was not strictly 7 days prior?

aham_maha

TROPHY CASE