US Visitor Visa Wait Time Increase To Over 500 Days, With No Appointments Available Until 2024

Are you planning a trip to the United States? But what if the visa appointment date is in a year’s time? Yes, you heard it right Indian citizens will have to wait until 2024 to book a visitor visa appointment.

Travelobiz Team checked the US State Department website and found that the average waiting time for a visitor visa to the United States is over 500 days, or about one and a half years, which means that those who apply now will get an appointment for March-April 2024.

The main reason for this long wait is that most countries have lifted Covid-related travel restrictions and resumed scheduled international flights, and many Indian travellers are preparing to travel abroad.

US Visa Appointment Wait Time In India

According to the US Department of State’s Travel.State.Gov website, the appointment for a visitor visa in the US consulate in New Delhi is 582 calendar days, and the appointment for a student visa is 471 days.

While, the average wait time in Mumbai for a US visa appointment for a visitor visa is 580 days; however, appointments for student visas are given in as little as 12 days.

Similarly, the average wait time for a US visitor visa appointment in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata consulate is 513, 510, and 587 calendar days, respectively, and for a student visa the waiting time is 8, 471, and 2 calendar days.

Calendar days refer to every day of the week, including days when embassies are closed (such as weekends and holidays).

According to the official website, the estimated wait time for an interview appointment at a US Embassy or Consulate varies weekly and is based on actual incoming workload and staffing. These are only estimates and do not guarantee appointment availability.

US Embassy Statement

The US embassy stated in response to the lengthy delays that the Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the US for both immigrant and non-immigrant travellers.

“The US government is taking steps to reduce wait times and backlogs by actively addressing consular staffing gaps created by the pandemic, including by onboarding and training new employees. The Department of State has doubled consular hiring of US officers this fiscal year over last year, and newly trained employees are making their way to overseas consular adjudicator positions, including in India.” 

“Visa processing is rebounding after a near-complete shutdown and freezing of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.  As part of this recovery, the US government is prioritising national interest and repeat travel (for applicants who have already had a US visa), which may mean that some travellers applying for their first visitor visa experience a longer wait time,” the statement further said.

Visa processes for other countries are also delayed!

Apart from the United States, visa applications and processing take a long time in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and for most of the Schengen countries and so on.

• The visa processing time for the United Kingdom has increased to 4-10 weeks.
• Germany no longer accepts permanent residency visas.
• The Visa processing time for Greece and Spain can be as long as six to eight weeks.

According to a visa update published on the Government of Canada website, the current visitor visa waiting time in Canada is 158 days.

“This processing time does not include the time it takes to send an application between a visa application centre and our office, as well as the time you need to give your biometrics,” the website adds.