B2 Visa Renewal - Still No Receipt Number

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I am applying for a B2 visa renewal for my mom. She is based in Chennai and qualifies for interview waiver under the new rules. I filed DS-160 and paid the visa fees on the USTravelDocs website on 24-Feb-2022 via NEFT. It's been over 4 weeks and still waiting for receipt.


It turns out their receiving bank (Bank of America Mumbai) is holding the payment. They (the bank) reached out to me via email 7 days ago asking for my passport and ID proof before they can release the payment. This doesn't make sense because I am a US citizen and the only role i have in this process is to make payment on behalf of my mother using my bank account in India. I went ahead and sent them my passport information and it has been 7 days and still no response.

As it stands now:
- USTravelDocs will not renew visa till they get the payment.
- The bank will not release payment till they get information from me.
- I have provided requested information 7 days ago but bank still has not released the payment.


I am lost at this point and don't know what to do. This radio silence is super frustrating.

Anyone else in this situation? Any input will be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[claps]

Quick update and putting this out here if someone is stuck in this situation...


As i paid the visa fees via NEFT, their receiving bank (Bank of America Mumbai) put the payment on hold. After 3 weeks, they (the bank) reached out to me via email asking for my passport and ID proof before they can release the payment to visa office. I sent all details. After 7 days, their bank refunded me the entire amount. No explanations given, no updates on the online account... the money just showed up back in my account.

As far as USTravelDocs is concerned, they still haven't received my payment so they cannot do anything. The DS-160 is still active and valid

The bank returned my money and it looks like they did not notify USTravelDocs about this.

We went ahead and paid cash directly using the Axis Bank method. The receipt was finally unlocked within 24 hours!!!!


To summarize:
It appears certain NEFT transactions can get stuck in an internal regulation and compliance loop at the receiving bank's end, even before it can get to the visa office. While NEFT payments have worked for many people, this still remains a big unknown in the entire process and i'm led to believe now that paying via cash to Axis Bank (or one of the other options) is the fastest way to get the receipt as it eliminates atleast one bank from the process.


Good luck to anyone else stuck in this. Applying for US visas has always been a challenging process for us in the past and the saga still continues.