Kamal Ghorui
The H-1B stamping delay that began in December continues till now, as no new interview slots opened and now interview dates are being deferred to 2027. Immigration experts said there is no hope for the situation to get better, and the only thing that H-1B visa holders in the US can do is to not travel to India for visa stamping as dates are only getting delayed. Hundreds of H-1B visa holders got stuck in India last December after they traveled to India to get their visa stamping as scheduled in December, only to be told that their interview dates had been deferred to 2026 as the visa officers started social media vetting. Those who had their interview dates in January, February also received emails for their respective consulates that their dates have been moved to April-May 2027.
Immigration attorney Emily Neumann said she did not hear about any new visa interview slots opening for India in the last 50 days. Neumann said H-1Bs who are in the US should not even try to get an appointment for visa stamping in India. “They are not in any hurry to give you a visa. They are trying to deny visas whenever they can. It is a completely different world from what we saw during the Biden administration. This administration does not want to give you visa,” Neumann said.
Visa stamping delay+ prudential revocation of visas
Amid the delay in stamping, US State Department is also revoking visas prudentially, and H-4 visa holders are also getting their visas revoked because of their H-1B spouses. Prudential visa revocation is a cancelation of the visa by the administration based on new information that suggests that the visa holder might be ineligible for the visa. Immigration experts said they are noticing an emerging pattern where the H-4 spouse of an H-1B visa holder is visiting the consulate for stamping only to be told that their visa has been revoked because of some old DUI of the H-1B spouse.
