Indian professionals hoping to renew or obtain H-1B visas at U.S. consulates are facing unprecedented delays after Mission India quietly rescheduled thousands of interview slots to 2027. Applicants who had secured January–March 2026 appointments began receiving e-mails late on 22 January stating that their biometric and consular interviews had been deferred—some by more than 14 months.
Immigration attorneys say the logjam stems from new social-media-vetting rules that took effect on 15 December 2025. Consular officers must now review applicants’ public posts for potential national-security concerns, adding an estimated 20 minutes to each case file. Staffing levels, however, have not increased, leading to a cascading reschedule of calendars that were already oversubscribed.
![U.S. H-1B Visa Stamping in India Now Pushed to 2027 as Appointment Backlog Deepens]()
The ripple effects are severe for Indian tech workers on home leave. Under U.S. regulations, they cannot re-enter without a valid visa stamp; many are now marooned, unable to resume work on client projects. NASDAQ-listed IT majors have activated emergency remote-work policies and are lobbying Washington for off-shore visa stamping or parole-in-place alternatives.
For global-mobility managers, the advice is blunt: cancel non-essential trips and defer all voluntary H-1B stamping until at least Q3 2026. Travellers caught in the deferral loop should preserve employment status by coordinating with U.S. counsel on leave-of-absence letters and payroll compliance.
Immigration attorneys say the logjam stems from new social-media-vetting rules that took effect on 15 December 2025. Consular officers must now review applicants’ public posts for potential national-security concerns, adding an estimated 20 minutes to each case file. Staffing levels, however, have not increased, leading to a cascading reschedule of calendars that were already oversubscribed.
The ripple effects are severe for Indian tech workers on home leave. Under U.S. regulations, they cannot re-enter without a valid visa stamp; many are now marooned, unable to resume work on client projects. NASDAQ-listed IT majors have activated emergency remote-work policies and are lobbying Washington for off-shore visa stamping or parole-in-place alternatives.
For global-mobility managers, the advice is blunt: cancel non-essential trips and defer all voluntary H-1B stamping until at least Q3 2026. Travellers caught in the deferral loop should preserve employment status by coordinating with U.S. counsel on leave-of-absence letters and payroll compliance.
Source: The Times of India
