Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: No new H-1B stamping dates seem to be available this calendar year and new interview dates are being deferred to 2027, creating major disruptions for Indian professionals working in the US. Visa offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad & Kolkata no longer have regular interview slots available. Immigration experts said there is no hope of the situation getting better. The US state department website simply shows ‘not available’ as the waiting period for next available appointment for interview required for petition-based (H, L, O, P, Q) visas in many places across the world, including Kolkata and Delhi.
No hope of US visa situation improving: Immigration experts
Those who had their interview dates in Jan & Feb also received emails for their respective consulates that their dates have been moved to April-May 2027.The pile-up is happening with the Trump administration reworking the H1-B programme. On Dec 29, 2025, US Citizenship and Immigration Services had published new rules for FY 2027.The annual cap of 85,000 visas remains unchanged, including 20,000 reserved for applicants with US postgraduate degrees.Apart from this, there have been overall changes in the Trump’s ever-tightening visa policies. US has introduced mandatory social media screening for visa applicants. The added scrutiny increased processing time per applicant and reduced the number of interviews consulates can conduct each day. The US no longer allows visa stamping in third countries, barring a few exceptions. That means the entire demand has to be met by consulates in India for Indians and has added to delays.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.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.
