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A worsening backlog at US consulates across India has pushed H-1B visa-stamping interviews deep into 2027, disrupting the lives of thousands of Indian professionals and separating many from their families and jobs in the US, according to multiple media reports and immigration experts. The first delays surfaced in December 2025, when interviews were pushed first to March 2026, then to October, and now 2027.
Immigration experts say the situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon, and are advising H-1B workers currently in the US to avoid travelling to India for visa stamping, as interview dates continue to get pushed further out.
Emily Neumann, a partner at a Houston-based immigration firm, speaking to The Times of India, stated she had not heard about any new visa interview slots opening for India in the last 50 days. Neumann said H-1B professionals 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 a visa," said Neumann.
American Bazaar quoted one immigration lawyer familiar with the situation, who stated, "There's virtually no regular appointments left until 2027. People who travelled for stamping last month were told their interviews were cancelled. Those with dates in January and February received new dates more than a year later."
WHY ARE H-1B VISA-STAMPING INTERVIEWS GETTING DELAYED?
The first delays, which first surfaced in December 2025 when appointments scheduled for that month were rescheduled between March and June, and then again to October 2026.
Consulates in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata have effectively run out of regular interview slots, forcing officials to again reschedule existing appointments by as much as 18 months to 2027.
According to various media reports, the backlog was triggered by a policy change introduced on December 15, 2025, requiring mandatory social media screening for employment-based visa applicants. The additional scrutiny added significant processing time per applicant, sharply reducing the number of interviews consulates can conduct daily.
In a New Year's Eve post on X (formerly Twitter), the US Embassy in India warned applicants that "violating US immigration law has consequences", even as interview backlogs stretched to March 2026 and beyond.
Compounding the problem, the US State Department has also ended a long-standing option that allowed Indian nationals to seek visa stamping in third countries, concentrating demand entirely on Indian consulates.
Applicants who had expected interviews in early 2026 are now receiving emails assigning new dates in April and May 2026 and even later in 2027. Immigration lawyers say the scale and speed of the deferrals are unprecedented.
As a result of these delays, thousands of Indian H-1B holding professionals who travelled to India for visa stamping are now unable to return as their originally scheduled dates keep getting delayed over and over again.
IMPACT OF H-1B VISA-STAMPING INTERVIEW DELAYS
The fallout has been swift and deeply personal. Social media platforms, particularly Reddit, are flooded with posts from frustrated applicants sharing screenshots of rescheduling emails and warning others against travelling.
One Reddit user wrote that their February 18, 2026 appointment in Chennai had been moved to May 24, 2027, forcing the cancellation of travel and putting employment plans in jeopardy. Other users responded with similar experiences, with multiple applicants reporting reschedules to April and May 2027. Users also questioned if these delays were now the new normal for those in the programme, and if the delays were a deliberate measure intended to ensure those who had left the US could not return.
For many families, the delays mean prolonged separation. Some H-1B holders are stranded in India while spouses and children remain in the US. School schedules, employment contracts and housing arrangements have all been disrupted, according to applicants quoted in online forums and reports by immigration advocacy groups.
Many fear that if H-1B holders remain outside the US after their visas expire, employers cannot file extensions and might have to restart the application process, with Neumann stating to The Washington Post that no company would now be as willing as before to do so due to the $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications that was put in place by the Trump administration last year.
With no clarity on when additional slots might open, immigration experts are advising H-1B workers currently in the US to avoid travelling to India unless absolutely necessary. Posts by the US mission have also warned applicants not to appear for outdated appointment dates without formal confirmation, as doing so could result in denial of consular services.
As the delays stretch on, uncertainty continues to cloud the lives of skilled workers who form the backbone of the US technology sector. What was once a routine administrative step has become a prolonged and emotionally draining wait, with no clear end in sight.
HOW ARE AMERICAN EMPLOYERS BEING HIT BY THE DELAYS IN THE H-1B VISA PROGRAMME?
Technology firms depend heavily on experienced H-1B professionals for continuity on long-term projects, and extended absences can disrupt teams, delay deliveries and increase costs. The same is also true for the US's education and healthcare sectors, which depend on H-1B professionals to mitigate shortages of skilled personnel.
These developments have forced many tech companies, including Indian IT companies with US-based operations such as Wipro, TCS and Tech Mahindra, to prioritise hiring American citizens over Indian immigrants to reduce delays and disruptions.
Some companies are already exploring remote work arrangements or temporary role changes, though lawyers say such fixes are limited by immigration rules. For instance, Amazon has allowed stranded Indian employees to work remotely, albeit with strict limitations on what they can and cannot do.
Without intervention, experts fear the backlog could undermine America's ability to attract global talent, even as other countries streamline skilled-worker visas and market themselves as more predictable alternatives. For many families, the human cost continues to mount each passing month without relief in sight.
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Published By:
Shounak Sanyal
Published On:
Jan 25, 2026
