Getting an H-1B visa stamping appointment in India has become nearly impossible. If you’re trying to book one right now, you’re looking at wait times stretching into 2027. That’s not a typo—we’re talking about a two-year backlog.
I’ve been tracking this situation closely, and what started as minor delays last December has snowballed into a full-blown crisis affecting thousands of Indian tech workers, engineers, and professionals who need to travel home.
What’s Actually Happening at US Consulates
Every major US consulate in India—Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata—has run out of regular interview slots. The timeline keeps getting pushed further out. Appointments originally scheduled for December 2025 got moved to March 2026. Then those March dates shifted to October 2026. Now? Many people are seeing dates in 2027.
Think about what this means. If you’re an H-1B holder working in California and your grandmother in Pune falls sick, you can’t just fly home to see her. Leaving the US means you’ll need your visa stamped to return, and that appointment is two years away.
The Perfect Storm: Three Policy Changes at Once
This isn’t just about high demand. Three major policy shifts happened almost simultaneously, creating what immigration attorneys are calling “the perfect storm.”
First, the social media screening requirement. On December 15, 2025, the State Department started mandatory social media checks for all employment-based visa applicants. Consular officers now spend significantly more time on each interview—reviewing Facebook posts, LinkedIn profiles, Twitter history, you name it. This alone cut the number of daily interviews by roughly 30-40%.
Second, third-country processing ended. Indian nationals used to have a workaround—fly to Canada or Mexico for visa stamping. The State Department shut that down completely. Now everyone has to come back to India, concentrating all that demand on five consulates.
Third, the H-1B program overhaul. USCIS published new rules on December 29, 2025, completely changing how the lottery works. While the 85,000 annual cap stays the same (including 20,000 for advanced degree holders), the selection process now heavily favors higher salaries and experience levels.
Here’s how the new lottery system breaks down:
- Level IV workers (senior positions): 4 lottery entries
- Level III workers (experienced): 3 entries
- Level II workers (mid-level): 2 entries
- Level I workers (entry-level): 1 entry
The lottery opens in early March, but employers are already scrambling to adjust their filing strategies.
Who’s Getting Hit Hardest
Tech companies are feeling this most acutely. A senior engineering manager at a Bay Area startup told me his team of eight Indian developers hasn’t been home in over a year. One of them missed his sister’s wedding. Another couldn’t attend his father’s funeral.
Healthcare providers are struggling too. Hospitals that recruited specialized physicians from India now can’t send them home for required continuing education courses. One hospital administrator in Boston said they’ve had to delay the start of a new cardiac care program because two cardiologists can’t risk leaving.
Educational institutions face similar challenges. Research universities depend on postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars. Projects are getting stalled when team members can’t travel for conferences or collaborative work.
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What Companies Are Doing to Cope
Smart employers aren’t just sitting around waiting. They’re adapting, though none of the solutions are ideal.
Some have started allowing limited remote work from India, though this creates tax complications and time zone headaches. Others are temporarily reassigning responsibilities to US-based team members, which means overwork and burnout.
Indian IT companies with US operations have accelerated their “local hiring” initiatives, bringing on more American citizens to reduce dependency on visa holders. It’s good for US employment numbers but doesn’t solve the talent shortage in specialized fields.
A few companies are exploring expansion to Canada or European offices where they can transfer employees more easily. That’s talent and investment leaving the US economy.
The Bigger Picture: America’s Talent Competitiveness
Here’s what concerns me most: other countries are paying attention. Canada’s Global Talent Stream processes work permits in two weeks. The UK’s Skilled Worker visa takes about three weeks. Australia’s processing time averages four to six weeks.
Meanwhile, the US is asking highly skilled professionals to wait two years just for an interview.
Immigration attorneys I’ve spoken with worry this sends a terrible message. If you’re a brilliant AI researcher in Bangalore with job offers from Google and from a Toronto startup, which are you choosing when one country makes it this difficult?
What You Can Do If You’re Affected
If you’re stuck in this situation, here are some practical steps:
Check for emergency appointments regularly. Consulates do release limited slots for genuine emergencies (serious family illness, death). These appear with little notice, so check daily.
Consider postponing any non-essential travel completely. Once you’re in the US on H-1B status, staying put is the safest option right now.
Talk to your employer about remote work policies. Some companies will work with you to enable brief trips home if you can work remotely during the visa processing period.
Join online communities where people share appointment availability updates. Sometimes cancelled appointments pop up, and having a network helps you grab them quickly.
Looking Ahead
The State Department hasn’t announced any plans to add consular staff or extend operating hours to address the backlog. Without intervention, this situation will likely get worse before it gets better.
The new H-1B lottery rules might reduce overall demand slightly if fewer entry-level positions get approved. But that’s not going to clear a two-year backlog anytime soon.
For now, thousands of Indian professionals in America face an impossible choice: stay indefinitely without seeing family, or risk their careers by going home without a clear path back.
It’s a situation nobody wins in. Not the workers, not the employers, not the US economy, and certainly not America’s reputation as a destination for global talent.
