H-1b visa renewal - used DropBox, but now interview required

[Frankie]

End of last year I tried to fly back to the US, but forgot to re-stamp my visa. I had an older visa and the new I-797 and was under the (wrong!) assumption I could use this travel. So I filled the DS-160 to renew my visa and qualified for the new DropBox system. My visa got processed and I am now invited for a personal interview which usually is waived as far as I understand. The only two reasons I can think of is that I tried to leave my country with an expired visa or that I switched my employer and the new visa is from a different petitioner.

Does anyone has an idea when a personal interview becomes necessary for visa renewal (if you qualified for DropBox)?

[raghvi]

End of last year I tried to fly back to the US, but forgot to re-stamp my visa. I had an older visa and the new I-797 and was under the (wrong!) assumption I could use this travel. So I filled the DS-160 to renew my visa and qualified for the new DropBox system. My visa got processed and I am now invited for a personal interview which usually is waived as far as I understand. The only two reasons I can think of is that I tried to leave my country with an expired visa or that I switched my employer and the new visa is from a different petitioner.

Does anyone has an idea when a personal interview becomes necessary for visa renewal (if you qualified for DropBox)?

If you switched employer OR the petitioner is different from original petitioner then you are not qualified for a drop box.

This is my opinion not legal advice.