The perennial backlog at US consulates has worsened again. Fresh data collated by the Economic Times on 25 September show that Indian applicants for B-1/B-2 visitor visas now face a 12-month wait for interview appointments in Hyderabad and 11.5 months in Mumbai. Chennai and Kolkata fare slightly better at 7.5 and 6.5 months respectively, while student-visa (F-1) slots remain under two months in most cities. Consular officials attribute the spike to a post-summer surge in family visits and medical travel, coupled with staffing constraints. Business mobility managers should therefore avoid routing executives through Hyderabad unless travel is 14–16 months away. Where feasible, companies can use the interview-waiver programme for repeat B-1/B-2 travellers whose previous visa expired within the past 48 months. The backlog also has knock-on effects for H-1B workers wanting to schedule stamping appointments for project trips home. Immigration counsel recommend building in at least eight weeks of buffer beyond published wait times, and exploring third-country appointments—such as in Singapore or the UAE—if employees have valid multi-entry Indian visas and can travel. The US Embassy says it is hiring 20 additional consular adjudicators by December 2026, which should cut wait times by “about 30 %” over the next quarter, but that relief will be uneven across posts.
Source: The Economic Times
