Fresh data from the U.S. State Department’s visa-appointment portal on January 26 confirm what Indian IT professionals have feared for weeks: H-1B stamping interviews at all five U.S. consulates in India are effectively sold out for 2026, with the next available dates pushed into 2027. The Economic Times reports that even applicants who booked January or February slots have received e-mails rescheduling them to April 2027 or later.
The backlog follows sweeping policy shifts by the Trump administration. On December 29, 2025, DHS finalized a wage-weighted H-1B lottery rule, signaling tougher scrutiny of lower-salary petitions. At the same time, the Department of State began mandatory social-media vetting for all work-visa categories and ended most third-country “dropbox” renewals, funnelling unprecedented demand through Indian consulates already short-staffed after COVID-era cuts.
![H-1B Visa Chaos Deepens as U.S. Consulates in India Show No Interview Slots Until 2027]()
Immigration lawyers say precautionary revocations of existing H-1B and H-4 visas are compounding the crisis. Families who traveled to India for holidays are stuck, their U.S. jobs and school enrollments in limbo. Employers are advising sponsored staff to avoid international travel, resurrecting pandemic-style contingency planning—from remote work in Canada or Mexico to drastic offshoring of critical roles.
The delays also threaten U.S. project timelines for tech giants, consulting firms and healthcare systems that rely on H-1Bs. NASSCOM estimates that 70 percent of H-1B petitions originate from India; without predictable visa availability, companies may accelerate the relocation of work to development centers overseas, undercutting U.S. competitiveness.
Consular officials did not respond to questions about additional staffing or pop-up interview days. For now, immigration advisers urge H-1B holders to renew via in-country change-of-status filings where possible and to budget six to nine months for any travel that requires a new visa stamp.
The backlog follows sweeping policy shifts by the Trump administration. On December 29, 2025, DHS finalized a wage-weighted H-1B lottery rule, signaling tougher scrutiny of lower-salary petitions. At the same time, the Department of State began mandatory social-media vetting for all work-visa categories and ended most third-country “dropbox” renewals, funnelling unprecedented demand through Indian consulates already short-staffed after COVID-era cuts.
Immigration lawyers say precautionary revocations of existing H-1B and H-4 visas are compounding the crisis. Families who traveled to India for holidays are stuck, their U.S. jobs and school enrollments in limbo. Employers are advising sponsored staff to avoid international travel, resurrecting pandemic-style contingency planning—from remote work in Canada or Mexico to drastic offshoring of critical roles.
The delays also threaten U.S. project timelines for tech giants, consulting firms and healthcare systems that rely on H-1Bs. NASSCOM estimates that 70 percent of H-1B petitions originate from India; without predictable visa availability, companies may accelerate the relocation of work to development centers overseas, undercutting U.S. competitiveness.
Consular officials did not respond to questions about additional staffing or pop-up interview days. For now, immigration advisers urge H-1B holders to renew via in-country change-of-status filings where possible and to budget six to nine months for any travel that requires a new visa stamp.
Source: The Economic Times
