To prevent fraud and abuse of the appointment system, US Embassy has announced the following policy changes.
All F, M, and J student visa applicants must use their own passport information when creating a profile and scheduling their visa appointment. Applicants who have created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number will not be accepted at the Visa Application Centers (VAC). Their appointments will be cancelled and the visa fee will be lost. Any applicant who has created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number should either create a new profile containing the correct passport information OR access any existing profile which contains the correct passport information in order to book an appointment. Note that this will require payment of a new visa fee receipt if the old receipt has been attached to a profile with incorrect passport information.
An applicant who has recently renewed their passport, or obtained a new passport after the old passport was lost or stolen, may bring a photocopy or other evidence of the old passport number and they will be allowed to proceed with their appointment.