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Planning a US trip? Tourist visa wait times in Hyderabad, Mumbai jump to 9.5 months
The latest US State Department data shows visitor visa appointment wait times have increased across most Indian consulates.
According to the latest visa appointment data released by the US Department of State, applicants seeking B-1/B-2 visitor visas in Hyderabad and Mumbai now face average interview wait times of 9.5 months, among the longest reported globally.
The updated figures, released on June 18, also show that wait times have increased in most major Indian cities compared with the previous update.
Which Indian cities have the longest US tourist visa wait times?
The latest State Department data shows the following average wait times for interview-required B-1/B-2 visitor visas:
Hyderabad: 9.5 months
Mumbai: 9.5 months
New Delhi: 7.5 months
Chennai: 5.5 months
Kolkata: 4 months
Among these, Kolkata is the only major Indian consulate where average wait times have improved, dropping from 4.5 months to four months.
Globally, Hyderabad and Mumbai are among the cities with the longest visitor visa appointment queues, behind Toronto (21 months), Ottawa (14 months), Vancouver (12 months) and Bogotá (11 months), according to the State Department.
Also Read: India resumes travel visas for Bangladeshi citizens: Why were they frozen for nearly 2 years?
Student and work visa applicants face shorter waits
The extended delays are largely limited to visitor visas.
Applicants for F, M and J student visas continue to face considerably shorter waiting periods:
Hyderabad: 1.5 months
Mumbai: 1.5 months
New Delhi: 2 months
Similarly, petition-based employment visas, including H-1B, L-1, O, P and Q, continue to move faster:
Mumbai: 1.5 months
New Delhi: 2 months
Hyderabad: 3.5 months
Also Read: Indian founder’s US visa denied due to ‘insufficient ties to home country’
Can applicants get earlier appointments?
The US Department of State has said the published figures are average wait times and do not guarantee when an individual applicant will receive an interview.
The department noted that US embassies and consulates periodically release additional appointment slots, allowing applicants with existing bookings to reschedule to earlier dates if new appointments become available.
It also said some applicants may qualify for interview waivers, which are not reflected in the published estimates.
The updated wait-time data comes ahead of a planned pilot programme that will allow eligible B-1/B-2 visa applicants at selected US embassies and consulates to pay an additional $750, on top of the standard $185 visa application fee, to obtain an interview appointment within 10 business days.
According to the US Department of State, the pilot program is scheduled to run from July 1 through December 31, 2026.
The department has not yet announced which embassies or consulates will participate in the programme, and it remains unclear whether any US mission in India will be included.
