I believed I was used only to justify hiring an internal candidate (most likely H1-B). The interview went well, both technically and personally, except the recruiters messed up the interview process, so some interviewers were not available.

Instead of finishing it, they just emailed me that they had decided on an internal candidate, even though they liked me. I resubmitted my resume for other job positions, which were subsequently ignored. Another recruiter talked to me and, after learning of what happened, never called back.

My interview went well enough that the entire process seemed strange, like they were covering up the fact I was being used and had to conceal it. I would not recommend taking time off only to be treated in what seems like a biased interview process that might technically be a violation of EOE.

Process flow question and caching