Indian professionals seeking H-1B visas are running into longer wait times at U.S. consulates, with appointment availability slipping sharply in recent weeks. January 2026 interview slots that many applicants had hoped to secure are now being deferred to as late as September 2026, according to applicants and visa tracking data.
For applicants, the delays mean postponed start dates, disrupted career plans, and extended periods of limbo as they wait for consular interviews to move forward.
“H-1B India January visa appointments are being pushed to September,” as per immigration lawyer Rajiv Khanna highlighting the issue. The backlog is being felt most by applicants who need visa stamping at U.S. consulates in India. This includes first-time H-1B applicants as well as workers seeking renewals after traveling abroad, many of whom now face months-long waiting periods before they can return to the United States or begin new roles.
The situation has worsened in recent weeks, with several H-1B and H-4 visa interviews slated for mid to late December 2025 being cancelled and pushed to March 2026. U.S. consular posts have attributed these changes to the rollout of a new online presence review process for H-1B and H-4 applicants that took effect on Dec. 15, adding another layer of scrutiny and delay to an already strained system.
READ: H-1B visa appointment crisis worsens, with mass cancellations pushing dates to late 2026 (
“There isn’t much that can be done because this administration has created a systemic problem that appears deliberate. What was the extreme emergency that the social media vetting policy had to be changed and people’s lives upended overnight? This has become a universal problem for H-1B employees applying in India,” according to Khanna.
Khanna said the current disruption cannot be seen in isolation and traced it back to earlier policy shifts that have steadily added pressure to the visa system, making delays and uncertainty more frequent for applicants. “Note also, the Trump administration had earlier announced a policy that you can only apply for a visa from your country of nationality or residence. This edict, combined with the current delay fiasco, has built a ‘wall’ for employers and employees who are already in the process of stamping,” he added.
The extended wait times have left many workers with little choice but to put joining dates, travel plans, and even job switches on hold. Khanna noted that the fallout goes beyond individual applicants, affecting employers, families, and project timelines that depend on timely visa processing. “This has also been disastrous for U.S. businesses. Most small businesses do not have the luxury of a vast workforce,” he said.
READ: Social media screening sparks H-1B turmoil: Visa appointments in India pushed to mid-2026 (
Applicants who are stuck in India for months while waiting for interviews or stamping have also begun asking whether they can legally continue working during this period, underscoring the confusion and stress created by the prolonged delays. Khanna said, “One of the key issues I’ve been asked about is, can we work while we are in India? The answer is yes.” He also cautioned that workers need to stay aware of and comply with local tax regulations while navigating these delays.
“Just be aware of the local tax filings, that is, do you become subject to Indian taxes if you’re working from India? But continuing to work from India while getting paid the H-1B wages is a definite choice if the employer permits it,” Khanna said.
These delays are unfolding against the backdrop of wider changes to the H-1B program. Earlier in 2025, the U.S. government rolled out modernisation rules that narrowed the definition of specialty occupations, tightened requirements around degree relevance, and imposed stricter compliance obligations on employers. By September, a one-time $100,000 fee on all new H-1B petitions added another hurdle, particularly for Indian IT firms that rely heavily on the visa. More recently, expanded social media and online presence reviews have further slowed processing.
Taken together, these shifts have created a heavier burden for applicants already struggling to navigate an increasingly complex system.