A foreign national who wants to visit the United States needs to get a visa, either an immigrant visa for permanent residency or a nonimmigrant visa for a short-term visit. People who wish to briefly enter the United States for business (B-1 visa), tourism (B-2 visa), or a mix of both (B-1/B-2) can apply for visitor visas, which are nonimmigrant visas.
Non-immigrant visas are interview-based, and therefore, you need to review the current wait time for an interview.
Interviewing officers rely on statements made by the applicant to determine visa eligibility, although they may consult supporting documents such as affidavits of support, travel arrangements, employment letters, or financial statements to verify statements made in the interview.
The most common reason for being refused is that the officer decided, based on your interview, that your social, family, economic or other ties to India are not strong enough to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent and qualify for a visa. Ties are the various aspects of life that bind you to your home country, such as family relationships, employment commitments, possessions and other factors.
Foreign nationals can enter the country for temporary work or other reasons using an H visa, which is a non-immigrant visa. H visas come in a variety of forms, each with unique needs and objectives. The H-1B visa is intended for specialized vocations and usually requires a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. In industries requiring specific knowledge and skills, it enables businesses to engage overseas personnel. An F-1 visa is for students who wish to study in the US.
Starting January 1, 2025, you can still schedule your first nonimmigrant visa appointment at the location of your choice. If you need to reschedule for any reason, you will be able to do that one time.
The current wait time for a US visa interview can be found using the Global Visa Wait Times table. However, a U.S. embassy or consulate’s estimated wait time for a nonimmigrant visa interview appointment may vary and is dependent on staffing and workload. Therefore, an appointment’s availability is not guaranteed by the information provided, which is only an estimate.
The Department of State publishes data on the average time nonimmigrant visa applicants waited for an interview in the previous month. The Department of State also releases the approximate wait time until the next visitor visa interview appointment is available on a monthly basis.
Wait times for applicants eligible for Interview Waiver are applicable only for locations where applicants schedule appointments to submit their passport and any required documents to a U.S. embassy or consulate.
Average wait times may differ from the next available appointment. As new appointments are regularly released, an applicant can move their appointment to an earlier available slot and ultimately wait less time. When they do not move their appointment earlier, their average wait time could be longer than the present-day next available appointment.
Embassies and consulates may waive the in-person interview requirement for eligible applicants. Wait times for these appointments are not reflected in the table below.
The US Embassy in India manages the activities of four consulates—in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad
The US embassies and consulates release additional appointment slots regularly. Those applicants who want an earlier appointment slot after initially scheduling their interview should check back regularly and move their appointment to another available slot.
The “Next available appointment” column in the table below predicts when you can expect to receive an appointment at that location. New appointments are added regularly, so you may get an appointment sooner. Once you have scheduled your interview, you can check the appointment scheduling system and move to an earlier appointment if a slot becomes available.
The “Average wait time” columns in the table below show how long people typically waited for interviews (measured from fee payment to visa interview date) in the previous month.
Average wait times are provided for B1/B2 visas only in cases where the next available appointment is more than three months away.
New Visa Appointment Wait Time Estimates Starting April 25, 2025
| City | Interview Required (B1/B2) Average wait times |
Interview Required (B1/B2) Next available appointment |
Interview Required (F,M,J) Next available appointment |
Interview Required Petition-Base (H,L,O,P,Q) Next available appointment |
Interview Required Crew and Transit (C,D,C1/D) Next available appointment |
| New Delhi | 9 months | 9 months | 2 months | NA | 2.5 months |
| Mumbai (Bombay) | 7.5 months | 9.5 months | 3 months | NA | 2 months |
| Hyderabad | 7.5 months | 7.5 months | 2 months | 2.5 months | NA |
| Kolkata | 8 months | 8 months | 2 months | NA | NA |
| Chennai (Madras) | 11.5 months | 13.5 months | 1.5 months | 2 months | 1.5 months |
| Source: travel.state.gov; Starting April 25, 2025 |