Hyderabad Has India’s Longest US Visa Wait Time Right Now

Hyderabad residents applying for a US visitor visa could now be waiting almost a year just to get an interview appointment.

The latest US Department of State visa wait-time data, updated on September 17, shows that the next available B1/B2 appointment in Hyderabad is 12 months away, the longest wait among the five US visa posts in India. The average wait is 11.5 months.

Mumbai is close behind, with the next available appointment at 11.5 months. New Delhi is at 10 months, Chennai at 7.5 months and Kolkata at 6.5 months.

What makes Hyderabad’s situation notable is that the five Indian posts are not experiencing the same level of congestion. Hyderabad’s average B1/B2 wait has risen from about 9.5 months in the previous update to 11.5 months. Its next available appointment has moved to 12 months. Mumbai, which previously had the longer queue, has moved in the opposite direction, with its average wait falling to 11 months. 

So, why has Hyderabad become India’s slowest US visa post for visitor visas?

The publicly available US government data does not provide a definitive answer. The State Department publishes wait times, but does not provide a city-wise breakdown of the number of applicants waiting, B1/B2 interview slots released each month or consular officers assigned to the category. That means claims of a specific staffing shortage or a deliberate reduction in Hyderabad appointments cannot currently be established from official data.

There is, however, a major change in the US visa system that has increased pressure on interview appointments across India.

Indian City	B1/B2 average wait	B1/B2 next available	F/M/J next available	H/L/O/P/Q next available
Hyderabad	11.5 months	12 months	1.5 months	5.5 months
Mumbai	11 months	11.5 months	2.5 months	1.5 months
New Delhi	7.5 months	10 months	2 months	3 months
Chennai (Madras)	7 months	7.5 months	<0.5 month	1.5 months
Kolkata	6 months	6.5 months	2 months	1 month

More applicants now need interviews

From October 1, 2025, the US significantly narrowed eligibility for interview waivers for nonimmigrant visas. Under the revised State Department rules, most nonimmigrant visa applicants generally require an in-person interview, with limited exceptions.

For B1/B2 applicants, certain people renewing a full-validity visa within 12 months of its expiry can still qualify for an interview waiver, subject to additional conditions. But a much larger proportion of applicants now have to appear before a consular officer.

That has an obvious impact on appointment demand. Someone who previously qualified for a waiver did not need to occupy a regular interview slot. Someone who now requires an interview does.

The timing is significant. The revised rules came into effect less than a year ago, and Indian applicants are now facing substantial visitor-visa queues. Recent reports have pointed to the tighter interview-waiver rules and continuing demand as factors behind the longer queues.

But this does not, by itself, explain Hyderabad’s position.

The same rules apply to applicants using Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Yet a Hyderabad applicant currently faces a next-available appointment roughly five and a half months later than someone applying in Kolkata.

Hyderabad isn’t slow for every visa

The differences become even more interesting when other visa categories are considered.

For F, M and J visas, which include student and exchange-visitor categories, Hyderabad’s next available appointment is only 1.5 months away, according to the State Department. Chennai is below half a month, while Delhi and Kolkata are around two months and Mumbai is at 2.5 months.

The situation is slower for petition-based H, L, O, P and Q visas. Hyderabad’s next available appointment is around 5.5 months, compared with three months in Delhi and 1.5 months in Mumbai and Chennai. 

That makes it difficult to describe the situation simply as a general visa-processing problem at the Hyderabad consulate. Student visa appointments, for example, remain relatively quick.

The data does suggest that Hyderabad may have a particular imbalance between demand and available appointment capacity, but that remains an inference. The US government has not publicly identified the operational reason for the difference.

The queue can change

The 12-month figure is also not a guaranteed appointment date. The State Department says its wait-time figures are estimates, and embassies and consulates periodically release additional appointment slots. Applicants can also check after booking to see whether an earlier appointment becomes available. 

But the latest figures still show the scale of the problem. Hyderabad has gone from an average B1/B2 wait of around 9.5 months to 11.5 months in one update, while Mumbai’s average wait has fallen. That makes the Hyderabad backlog different from a simple India-wide increase in demand.

The broader explanation is relatively clear: more people requiring interviews, high demand for US visitor visas and finite appointment capacity.

What remains unclear is the Hyderabad-specific part.

Why has the queue at Hyderabad grown to 12 months while Chennai and Kolkata remain below eight and seven months respectively? How many B1/B2 interview appointments is Hyderabad releasing each month? Has that number changed since the interview-waiver rules were tightened?

The State Department’s public data currently provides the first set of answers, Hyderabad has India’s longest B1/B2 wait, at 12 months, but not the final one.

For Hyderabad residents planning a holiday, family visit or short business trip to the US, however, the practical consequence is already clear: getting the appointment itself may now require planning almost a year ahead.