Indian applicants seeking US tourist visas are facing significantly longer waiting periods, with average interview wait times rising by as much as 36 per cent at some of the country’s busiest consulates, according to the latest global visa appointment data released by the US State Department.

The June 18 update shows that Hyderabad and Mumbai now have average wait times of 9.5 months for interview-required B-1/B-2 visitor visas, placing them among the longest queues globally. New Delhi’s wait has increased to 7.5 months, while Chennai remains at 5.5 months. Kolkata is the only major Indian post to register an improvement, with wait times falling from 4.5 months to four months.

The increase means India now features prominently among the world’s longest waiting destinations for US visitor visas, alongside Canadian cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, and Colombia’s Bogota.

Hyderabad, Mumbai among world’s longest waits

According to the latest data, the cities with the longest average wait times for B-1/B-2 visitor visas are:

• 
  Toronto: 21 months
• 
  Ottawa: 14 months
• 
  Vancouver: 12 months
• 
  Bogota: 11 months
• 
  Hyderabad: 9.5 months
• 
  Mumbai: 9.5 months
• 
  New Delhi: 7.5 months

The State Department noted that wait times in most Indian cities increased by at least two months, representing a month-on-month jump of roughly 36 per cent.

Work and student visas remain faster

The longer queues are largely confined to visitor visas.

Applicants for student visas (F, M and J) continue to face relatively shorter waits:

Hyderabad: 1.5 months

Mumbai: 1.5 months

New Delhi: 2 months

Similarly, petition-based work visas including H-1B, L-1, O, P and Q continue to move considerably faster than visitor visas:

• 
  Mumbai: 1.5 months
• 
  New Delhi: 2 months
• 
  Hyderabad: 3.5 months

This means Indian professionals travelling on employer-sponsored visas and students heading to US universities continue to face much shorter appointment delays than tourists and business travellers.

Canada records the longest delays

Globally, Canada continues to have some of the world’s longest visitor visa queues.

Toronto tops the list with an average wait time of 21 months, followed by Ottawa at 14 months and Vancouver at 12 months.

For work visas, Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo recorded the steepest increase, with average waits jumping to 12.5 months, more than four times higher than the previous month.

Wait times are estimates

The US State Department cautioned that the published figures are average wait times and do not guarantee an applicant will receive an appointment within that period.

US embassies and consulates regularly release additional interview slots, allowing applicants who have already booked appointments to reschedule to earlier dates if new slots become available.

  The latest wait-time update also comes ahead of the US State Department’s planned pilot programme for expedited visitor visa interviews. Beginning July 1, eligible B-1/B-2 visa applicants at selected US embassies and consulates will be able to pay an additional $750—over and above the standard $185 visa application fee—to secure an interview appointment within 10 business days. The pilot is scheduled to run until December 31, 2026, although the participating consulates are yet to be announced.  The premium service will only fast-track the interview appointment and will not guarantee visa approval or faster processing after the interview, the State Department has clarified. It also remains unclear whether any of the US consulates in India will be included in the pilot programme, with the list of participating posts expected to be released before the scheme takes effect.