Indian professionals seeking H-1B visa stamping appointments are facing an unprecedented delay, with not many regular interview slots available across US consulates in India for the entire 2026 calendar year and
many appointments are now reportedly being pushed into 2027. The situation has sparked concern among H-1B-holders in the US, many of whom are being advised not to travel to India for visa stamping because of the risk of being stranded outside the US for months.
Checks of the official US department of state (DoS) visa appointment system show that petition-based, interview-required non-immigrant visa categories — including H-1B, L, O, P and Q — display the next available appointment as 'NA' for all major Indian locations. This status appears for the US embassy in New Delhi and the consulate in Kolkata.
At the same time, the DoS says, "The 'average wait time' columns in the table below show how long people typically waited for interviews (measured from fee payment to visa interview date) in the previous month. Average wait times are provided for B1/B2 visas only in cases where the next available appointment is more than three months away. Average wait times may differ from the next available appointment. Because we regularly release new appointments, an applicant can move their appointment to an earlier available slot and ultimately wait less time. When they do not move their appointment earlier, their average wait time could be longer than the present-day next available appointment."
The 'NA' designation, reflected on the DoS’ visa appointment portal, means that the system no longer displays the 'next available appointment' for these categories because all regular slots are fully booked or have been removed, says a
report from Business Standard.
According to immigration lawyers tracking appointment availability, no fresh H-1B interview slots have opened for India for several weeks. Some attorneys have publicly warned Indian professionals working in the US to avoid travelling home for stamping unless it is unavoidable, as securing a return appointment has become highly uncertain. According to immigration experts, the current approach of US authorities suggests there is little urgency to expand visa interview capacity in India in the near term.
In
a blog post, immigration attorney Emily Neumann, who is also managing partner of Reddy Neumann Brown PC, discusses the end of the random H-1B lottery, replaced by wage-based selection starting March 2026 for FY26-27.
She says, "The newly imposed US$100,000 filing fee on H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries outside the US is expected to significantly alter employer behaviour. For many companies, the substantial upfront government fee may lead to fewer registrations overall, as employers become more selective about which candidates they are willing to sponsor. This potential reduction in total registrations could indirectly improve selection chances, but it also raises the stakes for employers, making careful candidate selection, budgeting, and strategic planning more important than ever."
"Both the wage-based lottery framework and the US$100,000 filing fee for beneficiaries outside the US are vulnerable to legal challenge, and litigation seeking to block or delay one or both measures remains a real possibility. While no court action has yet halted implementation, employers should plan based on the rules as currently written while remaining alert to last-minute developments that could affect registration strategy, budgeting, or filing timelines," she added.
The visa backlog has built up gradually since late-2025. In December last year, many applicants from India who had interview appointments scheduled for that month saw their dates rescheduled to early 2026. Those appointments were subsequently moved again to later in 2026, and in recent weeks, a growing number of applicants report that their interviews have been pushed further into 2027, says
a report from Times of India
For professionals who had planned short visits to India for visa stamping, the repeated rescheduling has disrupted employment, family commitments and travel plans.
Several policy and operational changes have contributed to the slowdown in visa processing. One key factor is the introduction of expanded social media screening for employment-based visa applicants in December 2025. The additional vetting requirements have increased the time consular officers must spend on each application, reducing the number of interviews that can be conducted daily, says
a report from New Indian Express.
Immigration lawyers say that even a modest increase in per-case processing time can have a significant impact when demand is as high as it is in India.
Another major change, according to
Business Today has been the end of third-country visa stamping for Indian nationals. Until recently, many H-1B-holders used US consulates in countries such as Singapore, Thailand or the UAE to obtain visa stamping when appointment wait times in India were long. With that option no longer available, all demand has been funnelled back to Indian missions, sharply increasing pressure on an already stretched system, the report says.
Official guidance from the
US DoS continues to state that visa appointment wait times fluctuate and that new slots may be released periodically. However, the absence of any visible availability for 2026 across all major Indian consulates marks a significant departure from previous years, when applicants could usually find interview dates several months in advance.
The delays are unfolding alongside broader changes to the H-1B programme itself. In late December 2025 US citizenship and immigration services announced revisions to the H-1B lottery framework for the 2027 financial year. While the annual cap remains at 85,000 visas, including 20,000 reserved for applicants with US post-graduate degrees, the selection process has been restructured to place greater weight on salary levels and work experience. Under the revised system, applicants at higher wage levels receive multiple entries in the lottery, while entry-level applicants receive fewer chances.
Although the lottery changes relate to new H-1B approvals rather than visa stamping, immigration specialists say the broader policy direction has contributed to uncertainty among workers and employers. The combination of tighter scrutiny, operational bottlenecks and shifting priorities has altered how companies plan international travel and mobility for their employees.
US employers in sectors such as technology, healthcare and higher education, which rely heavily on Indian H-1B professionals, are already feeling the impact, says
a report from VisaHQ . Extended travel restrictions have delayed projects, disrupted team structures and increased compliance costs. Some employers are allowing limited remote work from outside the US where feasible, while others are redistributing responsibilities within teams to avoid dependence on staff who may need to travel for stamping. Indian IT services companies with large US operations have reportedly stepped-up local hiring of American citizens to reduce exposure to visa-related risks.
For individual workers, the uncertainty is particularly acute. H-1B-holders who leave the US without a valid visa stamp cannot return until they complete an in-person interview and receive their passport back, a process that can now take many months. The situation also affects dependents on H-4 visas, whose applications are tied to the principal applicant’s appointment and face the same backlog, says the report from New Indian Express.
At present, there is no official timeline for when regular H-1B interview slots will reappear for Indian applicants. Immigration lawyers say that unless additional consular resources are deployed or policy priorities change, meaningful relief may not come until well into 2027.
In the meantime, professionals are being urged to plan travel cautiously, stay in close contact with employers and immigration advisers, and monitor official US visa portals for any unexpected release of new appointment slots.
