 Hey guys, hope all of you are doing well. So this is a quick update video about the status of FN visa appointments across all embassies in India for the month of September. So keep on watching. Hi guys, my name is Shachi and I'm a travel and visa coach on this channel. You will find tons of useful videos on the US visa process. In particular, the FN visa process. We have an entire playlist for this. So make sure that you check them out. So a lot of you have been reaching out to me via Instagram, DM and also right here in YouTube, telling me that you've been finding it really difficult to find a visa appointment slot in the month of September. Some of you are also wondering if the embassies have shut again. Well, the good news is that embassies are still open. They're up and running and all the interviews are being conducted as usual. But yes, having said that, the number of slots which have been released in particular for FN visa interviews have reduced drastically in the month of September. So in this video, I'm going to explain why this has happened and also tell you some ways through which you can still find yourself an interview slot. So let's get started. Now, the reasons why the FN visa appointments have reduced, there are several reasons for it. The first one is that the peak has already passed, right? So the bulk of the students who were waiting to get a visa appointment and to start their courses in US has already passed. So from the embassies point of view, they are done away with the bulk of FN visa processing for this season, that is for fall 2021. And the second reason is that we saw a huge spike in the number of appointments that were being given in the month of June and July. And this is because the embassy deliberately, you know, released thousands of extra slots, so they put in extra hours of work and they deliberately released thousands of extra slots every single day to accommodate for the backlog, right? There was this pent up backlog, which was there from the last year because many people could not attend visa interviews in 2020. And many people also could not attend the visa interviews for spring 21. So to make up for this humongous backlog, which had got created if you remember the Facebook Live that the US Embassy in Delhi had done, they announced that for the month of June and July, they would be releasing thousands of slots every day and the embassy would be working extra hours to clear this backlog and which is what exactly happened. So through June, July and some part of August, we saw that a lot of slots opened up and it became fairly straightforward and simple to get yourself a visa appointment. Now that has come to an end, right? So those extra slots which were being pumped into the system have been stopped. So now what you're seeing is the embassy going back to functioning, you know, in a way which was similar to what happened right after the lockdown opened. So they are functioning but still in a limited capacity, which means that, yes, slots are available, F1 interviews are on, embassies are open, but they are in limited capacity, which in turn means that getting a slot is going to be a little bit trickier. So this is the current scenario and I hope this puts to rest all the doubts and concerns that you might have. Now, having said this, let's now figure out what are the steps that you can take to get yourself an interview slot. The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that the location has to be flexible. A lot of you are reaching out to me and telling me that you want your interview appointment only for one particular location, either it is Delhi or Kolkata, you know, for whatever reasons it might be. But do keep in mind that you need to keep the location flexible. Do not wait for the appointments to open up just in your location of preference. Be flexible and look for appointments across all embassies in India. The second thing that you need to remember is do not get yourself blocked. If you check more than three times a day, they will block you for 72 hours. And that's a huge waste of time. That's a huge chunk of time you would have lost in which you probably could have gotten an appointment. So you need to be really smart and strategic when checking for appointments. Place these three attempts that you have throughout the day and make sure that you don't exceed this. And the third thing that you need to keep in mind is that make use of telegram groups. So I have mentioned this repeatedly on this channel, but there are various telegram groups which are extremely useful. These groups are for different embassies, different locations in fact. And here there are people trying to help each other and informing each other about the availability of slots. So in the description box below, I have included some of these groups. Please go ahead, join them, be active on these groups, put in your contribution as well and help each other in making yourself aware of when the slots are being available and use that information when you use those three tries per day that you have. And the fourth one is an emergency appointment option. So many of you I think are still unaware that there is an option called emergency appointment, which you are absolutely free to use even now. So if you're for some reason, let's say that you're not able to get any slot and your class date is approaching, then you are well within your rights to request for an emergency appointment. So I have a detailed video which explains exactly how you need to proceed with this. So make sure that you check out this video and if you have any more questions even after this, feel free to reach out to me. If I have any more updates about the availability of visa interview slots, I'll bring them right here on this channel. So to subscribe, press the bell icon. Also keep a close watch on the community tab because this is where I usually put all the updates. So till you get an interview slot, keep preparing. Don't lag behind on the preparation front. The more difficult it is to get an interview slot, the stronger should be your preparation. So to prepare with me, you can either book a one-to-one consultation session with me. This session will be done on a video call and I will help you in structuring your answers, preparing your funding plan as per your profile. And of course, we admit that you have. And you can also take a mock interview with me. This is something which I think is an absolute game changer. This gives you a real feel of the actual visa interview. The questions will be as per your profile and also as for the embassy where you're going to have your interview. And this is a great way to build confidence and get ready for the day. So all the details are in the description box below. There are also tons of free resources and these free resources will help you in preparing your documents and getting everything in place. So do check out all the free resources as well. And yes, if you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram. My Instagram dm is at chaachi.mul and you can also leave them in the comment section below. Signing off for now, wishing you all the very best for the road ahead. I'll see you in the next one. Bye.