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Does anyone know the risks associated with using online services providing flight reservations and hotel reservations for visa applications? These systems can be used by travelers applying for visas that require submitting confirmed flight and/or hotel reservations.

What I am confused about is:

  • Are these legal?

  • Even if they are legal, if the embassy catches you using one of them, will you be blacklisted or something like that?

  • Some of these services say that the tickets are valid for 2 weeks. But after you submit the documents with the flight booking, they might not get to your application in 2 weeks. If that happens, does that mean that your booking is essentially invalid?

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    The US doesn't require B visa applicants to have definite plans to travel to the US, so whatever risks may be associated with this practice, there is no necessity.
    – phoog
    Nov 7 at 6:20
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    Note: you can do also on airline websites, buying refundable tickets. Consular officers know all tricks better then you, so they do not care about unreliable stuffs. (experience helps)
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Nov 7 at 11:44

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https://ais.usvisa-info.com/en-fr/niv/information/faqs (Despite the funky domain this is an official site) tells us:

Should I book my travel before the interview?

Applicants are strongly advised not to book travel until after they receive their passport and visa.

So those sites are perfectly useless. You will not be asked for bookings, and they advise you not to book.

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    To echo my earlier comment, you can even apply for a US visa with a travel plan such as "I may need to travel to the US on short notice at some point in the next few years," so it's really a waste of time, effort, and possibly money for more than one reason.
    – phoog
    Nov 10 at 19:30

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