Visa Slots Rescheduling: Indian H-1B Applicants Face 8-Month Delay As US Ramps Up Vetting

Indian applicants for the US's H-1B work visa are facing lengthy delays in their appointments, according to reports, with appointments slotted for January being pushed to September.

This has lead to delays for thousands of skilled workers who were set to travel to the US for their jobs and has added to the sentiment of uncertainty prevalent since the Trump administration's stance on work visas.

This extension will most likely impact those applicants who need their visas stamped at US consulates in India. This includes those who are renewing their visa after travel and those who are applying for the first time.

This delay has ramped up after H-1B and H-4 visa appointments planned for the latter half of December 2025 were done away with and instead shifted to March 2026.

According to the US Consulate's statements' the cancellations are because of a new "online presence review" process for the aforementioned applicants starting from Dec. 15.

The new mandate involves requiring applicants and their dependents making their social media accounts public for the US government to review them.

This move is a part of a new set of background checks which has made the consular posts decrease the amount of interviews they hold per day, which has lead to the rescheduling and cancellation of appointments.

This has lead to a delay in the date of joining, travel plans and change of jobs. According to reports, the Trump administration's earlier policy requirement for applicants to apply for visas from their country of residence, coupled with the delays has caused a barrier for employers and employees in the process of stamping.

The Trump administration has also added a one-time charge of $100,000 for new H-1B petitions along with narrowing the definition of specialty occupations, increasing the compliance criteria for employers and made degree relevance a more prominent aspect of the requirements.