September 8, 2025

NEW DELHI: Are you an Indian planning a quick trip to America on a B1 (business) or B2 (tourist) visa? Brace yourself for a major shakeup! The US government just announced a strict new rule: from now on, all applicants for non-immigrant visas (NIV) must schedule their visa interviews only in their country of citizenship or legal residence. That means, if you are Indian, you have to appear for your meetup with the US embassy or consulate in India—no more speedy bookings abroad! This change hits hard because during the Covid-19 pandemic, many Indians dodged long wait times—sometimes up to 3 years!—by flying to places like Bangkok, Singapore, or even Germany to grab faster interview dates. Travel agents remember how Indian visitors even went to Frankfurt, which had special slots saved just for Indians! Even Rio de Janeiro and Chiang Mai saw hopeful Indian H-1B applicants rushing for interviews. But now, the US State Department is closing that loophole. "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," said the US State Department on Saturday. This rule is everywhere worldwide except for some spots where the US doesn't run normal NIV services, like Russia’s designated embassies in Astana and Warsaw, Afghanistan’s in Islamabad, and Iran’s in Dubai. If you check current wait times in India, they are quite long: 3.5 months in Hyderabad and Mumbai, 4.5 months in Delhi, 5 months in Kolkata, and a whopping 9 months in Chennai. So booking overseas slots temporarily helped many breathe easier back when Covid backlogs had piled up. Adding to the visa drama, the Trump administration has been tightening the screws on visa rules. Starting September 2, all applicants—yes, even youngsters under 14 and seniors over 79—usually must attend an in-person interview with a consular officer. Only a few lucky ones get to skip, like those renewing full-validity B1/B2 visas within 12 months of expiry, provided they were adults at the time of prior visa issuance. So, folks dreaming of that quick US holiday or business trip, gear up for longer waits and plan carefully. The golden days of hopping countries for speedy US visa dates might just be over! "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," recalled a leading travel agent who wished to stay anonymous. Now, with these fresh rules, this jugadu approach is history!

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Tags: Us visas, Non-immigrant visas, B1 b2 visa, Interview rules, Travel restrictions, India,