B1 B2 Visa Family Appointment for Multiple Applicants

Somebody in the family always ends up doing this job. You've got two parents — maybe a sibling too — all applying for B1/B2 visitor visas from the same country, and you want them in the same building on the same morning so nobody has to take three separate days off work. So you start searching for a family appointment, and you get two completely opposite answers. Half the pages tell you it's impossible. The other half show someone cheerfully adding their mum and dad to one slot.

Both are right. They're just describing two different things, and almost nobody explains which one you actually need.

Why Families Get Rejected for 'Group Appointments' — and What to Do Instead

Start with the rule, because it's the one that wastes people's time. The official group appointment guidance is blunt: family members who want to schedule an interview appointment together are not eligible for group appointment requests. No exceptions clause. No "unless it's your parents."

So if your plan was to file a group appointment request and hope, drop it. You'd be applying through a channel that has already told you the answer.

Here's the part most of those ranking pages leave out. The very same scheduling system that won't take your group request will happily let you add family members to a single interview appointment. That isn't a loophole and it isn't a grey area. It's a separate feature on the new US visa scheduling portal, built for exactly this situation. It has a different name, which is why so many people miss it.

One appointment. Several applicants. Everyone on the same date and time.

Group Appointment Request vs. Adding Family Members: Two Different Things

Worth nailing down, because forums use the two terms as if they're interchangeable. They aren't.

A group appointment request is something you send to the consulate asking to be handled as a group. Someone reviews it against the group criteria, and families who simply want to interview on the same day don't meet those criteria.

Adding family members on the portal is not a request at all. Nobody approves it or rejects it. You're telling the system that these applicants are travelling together and should be booked into one slot. It's a linking step, not an application.

Different mechanism, different outcome. One gets you a no. The other gets your parents booked.

What 'Dependent' Actually Means on the US Visa Scheduling Portal

The word makes people nervous. It sounds like it carries legal weight, or like you're declaring someone a financial responsibility.

On the scheduling portal, it means none of that. A dependent is just a family member you've linked to your profile so they can be booked under the same appointment. Each person keeps their own application, their own DS-160, their own fee and their own passport. Nothing about their case merges with yours.

To be straight about where this information comes from: the official group appointment guidance covers group requests, and that's the only part that's documented. The family-member and dependent flow is described by applicants who've used the portal. So treat the portal's own on-screen instructions as the final word, not any blog, including this one.

Before You Start: One DS-160 Per Applicant, One Profile Per Family

The mistake that costs the most time is treating a family visa application as one application. It isn't. Every person needs their own DS-160, completed with their own details and finishing with their own confirmation number. The common version of this is two parents, two separate DS-160s, one each.

Before you go anywhere near the calendar, gather:

• Each applicant's DS-160 confirmation number
• Each applicant's passport, with the name spelled exactly as it appears on the passport
• Each applicant's visa application fee payment or receipt
• Photographs that meet the visa photo requirements

Then create the one profile on the portal that will hold all of them. One profile, many applicants.

Step-by-Step: Adding Multiple Applicants to a Single Interview Appointment

These steps follow how the portal works in practice, based on what applicants report. Where official guidance exists, it's about group requests only — it doesn't cover this flow, so read the portal's own instructions as you go.

1. Sign in to the US visa scheduling new portal and complete your own profile first.
2. Find the option to add a family member or dependent. Add one person at a time.
3. Enter that person's DS-160 confirmation number. Match it to the right human — this is where similar parent names get mixed up.
4. Enter their passport details exactly as printed, including the spelling of middle names.
5. Attach that applicant's visa fee receipt or payment confirmation.
6. Set the visa category to B1/B2 for each person.
7. Repeat until every applicant shows in the profile.
8. Only then search for an appointment. The date, time and location you choose will cover everyone attached.
9. Review the appointment page before confirming. Each name should be listed. If someone's missing, fix it now rather than at the consulate gate.
10. Save or print the confirmation for every applicant separately.

Picking a Date and Time That Works for Everyone in the Family

One slot, one date, one time, one location. Everyone attached to that booking turns up at the same moment.

A few practical things:

• Attach every applicant before you search, so the slot you pick genuinely holds the whole party.
• Choose the location that serves where the family lives and that everyone can realistically reach.
• Earlier times mean earlier arrival. Moving several people through security takes longer than moving one, so build in a buffer.
• Don't book flights or trains around a slot you might still change.

And one thing that catches people out: booking together doesn't mean the cases are decided together. Each applicant still answers for their own application and gets their own outcome. The shared appointment is a scheduling fact, nothing more.

Can One Person Submit the Application and Book for a Relative?

Yes, in practice. What applicants report doing is exactly this — an adult child or a spouse fills out a DS-160 for each parent, collects the fee receipts, then runs the entire scheduling side from one account.

Two things to keep straight. The answers on each form have to describe the applicant, not you. And the person whose visa it is still has to attend their own interview. You're handling the admin, not standing in for them.

Also, put the login details somewhere the whole family can reach. If you're the only one with the password and you're travelling or unreachable on the day, nobody can check the confirmation.

Fees, Receipts and Documents Each Applicant Must Bring Separately

For B1/B2, the core requirements are a valid passport, photographs, the visa application fee and the visa application forms. Every one of those applies per person, not per family.

Each applicant walks in with their own:

• Passport
• DS-160 confirmation page
• Visa fee receipt or proof of payment
• Photographs to the required specification
• Appointment confirmation
• Supporting documents for their own trip

Keep them in separate labelled envelopes inside one folder. Four people, one stack of paper, is how confirmation pages get handed to the wrong officer.

Rescheduling When Only One Family Member's Date Changes

The interview date and time can be changed through the system. What you can't easily do is shift one person while the others stay put — because they're attached to the same appointment.

So you have two routes. Move the whole family to a new shared date, if one exists. Or split that one applicant off and book them separately.

Before you start clicking, read whatever the portal currently says about how often a booking can be moved. It's far easier to check that first than to find out halfway through.

What to Do When No Shared Slot Is Available

This happens, particularly at busy posts. If there's no single slot that fits everyone:

• Book separate appointments on different dates. Nothing in the guidance requires families to interview on the same day — it only says they don't qualify for a group request.
• Keep checking. Slots come back into the system as other applicants cancel or move.
• Don't let one missing slot hold up everybody. Unless the travel logistics genuinely don't work, three people booked beats four people waiting.

Quick Answers Before You Book

How do I schedule a US visa appointment for family so they interview together?

Not through a group appointment request — the guidance says families who just want to be together aren't eligible. Use the portal's family member or dependent option once every DS-160 is finished.

Can one person submit a visa application for a family member?

Yes. Each person still needs their own DS-160 and their own supporting documents. What one person can do is handle the form-filling and the booking, as the forum examples show.

How do I add dependents in the US visa appointment new portal?

You add each family member to your profile so they're booked under the same appointment instead of sitting in separate, unlinked bookings.

Is the B1/B2 visa good for multiple entries?

The category covers business and tourism visits. The requirements listed are a valid passport, photographs, the fee and the forms — nothing there spells out entry validity. Once the visa is issued, read it to see whether you were granted single or multiple entries. Don't assume either way.

Before you lock in that slot, run one final check down the list: every applicant attached, every DS-160 confirmation number entered and matching the right person, every fee receipt in the profile. A single missing document means unlocking the whole booking and starting the family's search for a shared date all over again.