The US State Department’s dashboard of non-immigrant visa wait times was refreshed late on 17 September, and the numbers offer a mixed picture for Indian business travellers. Mumbai’s wait for a first-time B1/B2 interview has dropped from 458 days to 412; New Delhi stands at 395, down 21 days from the previous update. Chennai and Hyderabad, however, show negligible movement, still hovering around the 440-day mark. H-1B and L-1 appointment queues shortened by an average of eight days nationwide. Consular officials attribute the incremental gains to “aggressive Saturday shifts” and the recent deployment of 120 temporary adjudicators under Operation Visa Surge III. Yet demand continues to outstrip capacity: the US accepted more than 1 million Indian visitor-visa applications in the first eight months of FY 2026, already eclipsing the FY 2025 total. What does this mean for corporates? First, do not assume improvement equals availability—slots are often snapped up within minutes of release. Second, employers should budget for possible use of the State Department’s fast-track pilot (US$750) where time-sensitive travel is unavoidable; note, India is still excluded from the pilot, so travellers must hop to a third-country post that participates. Third, check whether the employee qualifies for interview-waiver renewals, which require only a drop-box submission. The update also serves as a reminder that the fiscal-year clock resets on 1 October, when posts historically add a significant tranche of appointments. Mobility managers should set alerts on the USTravelDocs portal and prepare completed DS-160 forms in advance so travellers can pounce when new dates go live.
