Indian applicants for US B-1/B-2 visitor visas face wait times of about 11.5 months for interview appointments in Mumbai, a slight improvement from earlier in the year but still among the longest such waits reported.
A wait time approaching a year is less a comment on any individual applicant’s case and more a signal of a structural mismatch between processing capacity and application demand at a given consular post.
That the figure has improved only slightly, despite being flagged repeatedly by industry groups and applicants, suggests the underlying constraint, likely staffing and interview slot capacity, has not shifted meaningfully even as attention to the issue has grown.
Wait times of this length carry real economic consequences beyond individual inconvenience, since delayed business travel can affect deal timelines, conference participation and other time-sensitive commercial activity.
Until interview capacity at high-demand posts like Mumbai is expanded to match application volumes, incremental improvements of a few weeks or months are unlikely to meaningfully change the experience for most applicants, who will continue planning US travel roughly a year in advance.
Visa interview wait times can fluctuate based on staffing levels, application volumes and broader diplomatic considerations.
The US has periodically added interview slots or adjusted staffing to address visa backlogs at high-demand posts.
Business travellers and tourists are both affected by extended wait times for B-1/B-2 appointments.
India is one of the largest sources of visa applicants to the United States globally.
Visa wait times are separate from visa approval rates, which depend on individual application review.
Some applicants opt for interview waiver programmes when eligible, which can reduce processing time in certain cases.
Extended wait times have previously drawn attention from Indian industry groups citing the impact on business travel.
The US visa application process typically involves an online form, fee payment, and an in-person interview at a consulate or embassy.
US-India consular engagement (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, public domain