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H-1B visa stamping delays extend to 2027, disrupting Indian workers' travel plans, ‘They are not in any hurry to…’
Indian professionals face delays in H-1B visa stamping, with no new interview slots available until 2027.
There are currently no new H-1B visa stamping dates available for the remainder of this calendar year, with new interview slots now being deferred until 2027, thereby disrupting travel arrangements for Indian professionals employed in the US.
Visa offices located in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata no longer display regular interview availability.
Immigration attorney Emily Neumann mentioned in a post on X that she has not observed any new visa interview slots opening for India in the last 50 days. She cautioned H-1B visa holders presently in the US against traveling to India for stamping.
“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 visa,” Neumann stated.
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What is H-1B and Indian workers are getting impacted?
Employers in the United States, particularly in the technology, healthcare, and higher education sectors, depend significantly on H-1B professionals for specialized positions. Prolonged travel restrictions have resulted in project delays, disrupted team dynamics, and heightened expenses.
Certain firms are permitting restricted remote work or are temporarily redistributing tasks. Meanwhile, other firms, notably Indian IT companies with substantial operations in the US, have increased their recruitment of American citizens to mitigate risks and maintain operational continuity.
The yearly limit for H-1B visas remains at 85,000 visas, which includes 20,000 specifically allocated for people holding postgraduate degrees from US institutions. However, the lottery system has been revised to emphasize salary and levels of experience more significantly.
What ‘NA’ signifies in the appointment system
Visa categories that require an interview based on petitions — such as H, L, O, P, and Q — currently display the next available appointment as ‘NA’, as per the official website of the US Department of State. This denotes that there are no standard interview slots accessible for these categories. When all regular slots are completely booked, the system ceases to show wait times and instead presents ‘NA’, stating that applicants are unable to schedule an interview date.
How appointments have been postponed to 2027
The delays commenced in December 2025, when US consulates postponed visa interviews that were initially scheduled for that month to March 2026. Those appointments were subsequently rescheduled to October 2026. In recent weeks, numerous applicants have experienced their interview dates being further delayed into 2027.
Applicants who had intended to make brief trips to India for stamping are now confronted with the possibility of being stranded outside the US for several months, which impacts their employment, family arrangements, and immigration status.
