Planning a US visit? Join the visa queue, wait time up to 9 months in India; Trump changes rule

As US President Donald Trump continues with his crackdown on immigration, new changes in the visa process suggest applicants for US non-immigrant visas (NIV) will now need to schedule their interview appointments in their country of citizenship or legal residence. This means that Indians requiring travel to the US on short notice will not be able to book a quick B1 (business)/B2 (tourist) appointment date abroad.

However, the new change has a few exceptions for places where the US is not conducting routine NIV operations. In the past, travellers used to schedule an interview abroad, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the wait times back home were as long as three years due to a massive backlog of applications.

NIVs are issued for tourism, business, to students, temporary workers, and those engaged to marry US citizens. This marked the latest series of changes introduced by the Trump administration as it closes its borders to immigrants.

The long wait time

The US State Department issued a statment on the matter on Saturday, stating that the new visa regulations will be applied worldwide. “Effective immediately, the Department of State has updated instructions for non-immigrant visa applicants… (they) should schedule visa interview appointments at the US embassy or consulate in their country of nationality or residence,” the statement read.

It is pertinent to note that the wait time for a B1/B2 interview in India as of now is three and a half months in Hyderabad and Mumbai; four and a half months in Delhi, The Times of India reported. It is five months in Kolkata and goes as far as nine months in Chennai.

While speaking to The Times of India, travel agents recalled how Indias used to travel to other countries like Germany for a B1/B2 visa interviews from 2021, when travel resumed post-pandemic. In light of this, two years ago, the US consulate in Frankfurt had set aside NIV interview appointments “specifically for Indian applicants” as the interview wait period for B1/B2 visas in India at that time was 15-20 months.

“Indians would travel to Bangkok, Singapore and even Frankfurt for B1/B2 interviews. They would stay there for a week to 10 days, get their passport back from the US consulates there and return to India. We have seen H-1B applicants go to places such as Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) as well as Chiang Mai (Thailand),” a travel agent who asked to remain anonymous told TOI.

Soon after coming back to the Oval Office, Trump has been tightening visa rules. With this, all non-immigrant visa applicants – including applicants under the age of 14 and over the age of 79 – “will generally require an in-person interview with a consular officer”, barring a few exceptions, the US State dept said in a statement.

One of the exceptions includes “applicants renewing a full validity B-1, B-2, B1/B2 visa… within 12 months of the prior visa’s expiration, and who were at least 18 years old at the time of the prior visa’s issuance.”