A growing backlog at US consulates across India has pushed H-1B visa-stamping interview dates deep into 2027, throwing the lives of thousands of Indian professionals into uncertainty and separating many from their families and jobs in the United States.
According to multiple media reports and immigration experts, the delays first became visible in December 2025, when interview dates were pushed from that month to early 2026. Since then, appointments have been repeatedly rescheduled — first to March, then October 2026, and now well into 2027.
Immigration lawyers say there is little hope of a quick resolution and are strongly advising H-1B holders currently in the US not to travel to India for visa stamping unless absolutely unavoidable, as interview slots continue to disappear.
Emily Neumann, a partner at a Houston-based immigration law firm, told The Times of India that she has not seen any fresh interview slots open for India in nearly two months. According to her, H-1B professionals already in the US should avoid attempting to book appointments in India.
“They are not in any hurry to issue visas,” Neumann said. “They are trying to deny visas wherever possible. This is a very different environment from what we saw during the Biden administration. This administration simply does not want to issue visas.”
American Bazaar quoted another immigration lawyer familiar with the situation as saying that regular appointments are virtually unavailable until 2027. “People who travelled for stamping last month were told their interviews had been cancelled. Those with January and February dates were reassigned slots more than a year later,” the lawyer said.
Why the delays are mounting
The problem first surfaced in December 2025, when interviews scheduled for that month were rescheduled to between March and June 2026. Many of those dates were later pushed again, some as far as October 2026 and now into 2027.
US consulates in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have effectively exhausted their regular interview capacity, forcing officials to reschedule existing appointments by as much as 18 months.
Media reports attribute the backlog to a policy change introduced on December 15, 2025, which made social media screening mandatory for employment-based visa applicants. The additional scrutiny significantly increased processing time per applicant, sharply reducing the number of interviews that could be conducted each day.
In a New Year’s Eve post on X, the US Embassy in India warned applicants that “violating US immigration law has consequences,” even as appointment backlogs stretched well beyond early 2026.
Adding to the pressure, the US State Department has also discontinued a long-standing practice that allowed Indian nationals to seek visa stamping in third countries, concentrating all demand on Indian consulates.
Applicants who expected interviews in early 2026 are now receiving emails assigning new dates in April or May 2027. Immigration lawyers say the scale and speed of the deferrals are unlike anything they have seen before.
As a result, thousands of H-1B holders who travelled to India for stamping are now stuck, unable to return to the US as their interview dates are repeatedly pushed back.
Personal toll on families
The human impact has been immediate. Social media platforms — particularly Reddit — are filled with posts from anxious applicants sharing screenshots of rescheduling emails and urging others not to travel.
One user wrote that their February 18, 2026 appointment in Chennai had been moved to May 24, 2027, forcing them to cancel travel plans and placing their job at risk. Others reported similar experiences, with interview dates shifted to April and May 2027. Several questioned whether the delays were becoming the new normal — or whether they were intended to prevent applicants who had left the US from returning.
For many families, the delays mean prolonged separation. Some H-1B holders remain stranded in India while spouses and children stay behind in the US. School schedules, housing leases and employment contracts have all been disrupted, according to applicants and immigration advocacy groups.
There are also fears that if H-1B holders remain outside the US after their visas expire, employers may be unable to file extensions and could be forced to restart the process altogether. Neumann told The Washington Post that companies are now far less willing to do so, citing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications introduced by the Trump administration last year.
With no clarity on when additional interview slots might open, immigration experts continue to advise caution. The US mission has also warned applicants not to appear for outdated appointment dates without formal confirmation, as doing so could result in denial of consular services.
What was once a routine administrative step has turned into a long, emotionally draining wait, with little certainty about when — or how — it will end.
Impact on American employers
The delays are also being felt by American employers. Technology firms rely heavily on experienced H-1B professionals to maintain continuity on long-term projects, and extended absences can disrupt teams, delay deliveries and raise costs. Similar concerns exist in the education and healthcare sectors, which depend on skilled foreign workers to plug staffing gaps.
Several companies, including Indian IT firms with significant US operations such as TCS, Wipro and Tech Mahindra, are increasingly prioritising the hiring of American citizens to minimise visa-related disruptions.
Some firms are experimenting with temporary remote-work arrangements, though lawyers say such solutions are limited by immigration rules. Amazon, for instance, has allowed some stranded Indian employees to work remotely, albeit with strict restrictions on their roles.
Experts warn that unless the backlog is addressed, the situation could weaken America’s ability to attract global talent — especially at a time when other countries are streamlining skilled-worker visas and positioning themselves as more predictable alternatives.
For now, thousands of families remain stuck in limbo, waiting for interview dates that keep slipping further into the future.