Indian H-1B visa holders who travelled back to India to renew their work permits in America are reportedly stranded in the country after their appointments were abruptly cancelled by US consular offices
and rescheduled for months later, according to immigration lawyers.
These long wait times are largely attributed to the rollout of rigorous new vetting protocols by the US Department of State earlier this month. Under new directives from the Donald Trump administration, consular offices are now required to conduct “online presence reviews”, which involve a deep-dive screening of an applicant’s social media accounts.
Thousands of Indian professionals who travelled to India for H-1B and H-4 visas between December and February have had their consular interview appointments abruptly postponed by several months. In some cases, the rescheduled dates extend to mid-2026 or even 2027, leaving them stuck in India and facing serious uncertainty about their employment, as per reports.
Immigration lawyers told The Washington Post that the sudden cancellations have upended lives, leaving workers on expired visas fearful of losing their jobs. Emily Neumann, a partner at the Houston-based immigration firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC, said she had at least 100 clients stranded in India.
Veena Vijay Ananth, an immigration attorney in India, and Charles Kuck, who practices immigration law in Atlanta, said they each had more than a dozen similar cases. These lawyers said many of those affected by the sudden H-1B visa rules are tech workers in their 30s or 40s, who have been living in the United States for years.
READ MORE: Stamped Out: Google Warns Staff With US Visas Against International Travel Amid Embassy Delays
‘Biggest Mess’ Under Trump Administration
Several workers are now scrambling to find alternative work arrangements with their US companies, while others are debating whether to keep their children out of school or send them home alone. Other people are completely separated from their families.
“This is the biggest mess we have seen,” said Ananth, who has worked on H-1B cases for over 20 years. “I’m not sure there is a plan.”
A spokesperson for the State Department told The Washington Post that “while in the past the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world, including in India, are now prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else.”
India has long been the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B programme, accounting for 71% of visa holders, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As of September, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft were the three largest sponsors of H-1B workers, the USCIS data shows.
However, the H-1B programme came under sharp attack after US President Donald Trump took office in January, with some of his influential far-right backers claiming that it takes jobs from American workers. On September 19, Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications in a bid to reduce misuse.
On December 3, the Trump administration announced “expanded screening and vetting” procedures for H-1B and H4 dependent visa holders, including a review of their online presence. “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the State Department said. “A US visa is a privilege, not a right.”
Why Are Indians Facing Delays In Visa Interviews?
In the following days after the new vetting process was announced, H-1B visa holders with renewal appointments in mid to late December started receiving emails from the State Department saying that “operational constraints” had forced consulates to reduce the number of appointments they could take each day, as per the report.
The bulk of the renewal appointments are being rescheduled between March and June 2026, while one applicant was given a makeup date in 2027. An Indian man living in Detroit and working as an engineer narrated his ordeal, saying he flew back to India in early December for a wedding and had consular appointments set up for December 17 and 23 to renew his H-1B visa, which is now expired.
On December 8, he got a series of emails from the US State Department saying his consular appointment had been cancelled and rescheduled for July 2, 2026, more than six months away. This caused panic, as the man has a wife in the US and a five-year-old son. He was later able to secure an expedited appointment after his company submitted documentation showing several of the projects he’s working on are ramping up next year.
The engineer told The Washington Post that the changes to the H-1B programme are misguided because foreign workers help power many leading American companies. “If you see an overnight exodus of people working on H-1Bs, I promise you, a lot of companies are going to fall flat,” he said.
Even companies are not immune to this recent H-1B shockwave. Unable to predict when employees will return, US tech executives are scrambling to come up with accommodations and workarounds, said a person familiar with the issue.
US tech giant Google has issued a stern travel advisory to its foreign employees, warning them to avoid international travel as US embassies and consulates are experiencing significant visa stamping appointment delays.
Charles Kuck, the attorney in Atlanta, said the delays may be justified as an operational necessity, but the driving force is partisan politics. “Social media is the excuse,” he said. “But the reason is the extraordinary rise in attacks on the H-1B program, and Indian nationals in particular.”
