Visa appointments continue to be extremely limited for U.S. Consulates in India. The goal is to return to typical, pre-COVID processing capabilities by September 2023. However, some limited availability has been announced for some visa categories.
Slots for F-1 student visas for the spring semester became available in October and November of this year. New slots are expected to open in December. After completing the spring semester interviews, slots will be available for first refused applicants. The hope is these slots will open in the coming week.
Dropbox stamping continues. When it was initially announced in August 2022, it was said that processing at the U.S. Embassy would take between 3 and 4 weeks. However, in October, the Embassy stated it could be as short as one week if all documentation is in proper order and there are no issues with the application. All U.S. Consulates in India waive the interview requirement or offer Dropbox slots for H-4, H-1B, and other visa renewals. Dropbox slots are opening for 2023 as well. These slots are not placeholders.
For B-1 and B-2 visa applicants, interviews started for first-time applicants in September. As these are the lowest priority, these visas have the longest wait time. All slots for the rest of 2022 and 2023 are not placeholder slots.
Appointment availability for the next few months is full for both the H and L visa categories. 100,000 slots that were previously available but have since been filled up. No additional H or L visa slots are expected to open in the next few weeks. However, the wait time has been reduced, per the U.S. Consulate.
The key to finding appointments is to continually monitor appointment availability. Slots may open for a few minutes only. Be sure to check on the status often and always have all the paperwork you need ready.
If you have questions about visa appointments or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. We actively monitor ongoing updates to ensure our clients get the right advice for their particular situations.
