Many Israelis try to get an appointment at the US embassy in order to issue a visa. The wait is very long and can last for months, which leads many to look for alternative solutions that may cost them a lot of money, and in some cases - even harm their chances of getting the visa.
Due to the lack of queues for the coming period, there are quite a few maachars who take advantage of the opportunity and offer desperate Israelis services to shorten times and make appointments close to the US Embassy. In many cases the service does not really shorten queues, and in some cases those maachars disappear with the money, leaving those Israelis without a visa and with a hole in the pocket
The US Embassy emphasized in the past that they do not work with any company that offers VIP services, shortening queues or promises of any kind, and that this is prohibited from their point of view. Despite the ban, we exposed the working method of some of the farmers in "Israel Today" about two months ago: those companies work mainly Taking new appointments that become available, and when they take them, they offer them for sale according to the date of the meeting - the closer the date, the higher the price you will pay, and can even reach NIS 3,000 per meeting.
Queue to issue a visa to the USA (archive, those photographed have nothing to do with the news), photo: AP
It is important to emphasize that the US Embassy does open new dates in the calendar, which anyone can take. All you have to do is sit on the calendar and refresh the page every half an hour or so, and this way queues of people who canceled for various reasons are often cleared and new queues are opened that the embassy decided to open
As mentioned, the problem here is the entry of the companies that offer queue shortening services.
The competition of the common man against the company for taking the new appointments is difficult, and makes taking the new and upcoming appointments more difficult.
The US Embassy responded: "The US Embassy is aware of reports of people trying to take advantage of the appointment system for personal gain.
We can't talk about law enforcement activities, but we have reported many of them to the authorities.
Applicants should try to make appointments on our website and avoid scam services that say they have an inside source that allows them to book an appointment.
They are illegal.
Do not become a victim of fraud.
People or entities that claim they can guarantee you an appointment through contacts at the embassy are illegal.
Don't pay for making appointments, they're free."
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us