Hyderabad and Mumbai top the listAmong the longest visa queues in the worldStudent and work visas tell a different storyCan you get an earlier appointment?
A faster visa - for a price?
Planning to visit family in California?
Only a handful of cities have longer average waits, including Toronto (21 months), Ottawa (14 months), Vancouver (12 months) and Bogotá (11 months).For many Indian travellers, this means spontaneous trips to the US are becoming increasingly difficult.
Securing a visa appointment could prove to be the biggest challenge of all.
Hyderabad and Mumbai top the list
Among the longest visa queues in the world
Student and work visas tell a different story
Can you get an earlier appointment?
A faster visa - for a price?
Dreaming of a holiday in New York? Planning to visit family in California? Or perhaps you've finally decided to tick the Grand Canyon off your bucket list.You might want to plan much further ahead than you expected.If you're applying for a US tourist visa from India, the waiting game has just become even longer. Fresh figures released by the US Department of State show that appointment wait times for B-1/B-2 visitor visas have increased across most Indian consulates, with Hyderabad and Mumbai now seeing average waits of around 9.5 months - among the longest in the world.In other words, if you're hoping to travel to the US later this year, there's a good chance you may not even get your visa interview before your planned departure unless you've already secured an appointment.According to the latest data released on June 18, here's how long applicants are currently waiting for tourist visa interview appointments across major Indian cities:Hyderabad: 9.5 monthsMumbai: 9.5 monthsNew Delhi: 7.5 monthsChennai: 5.5 monthsKolkata: 4 monthsThere's one small silver lining. Kolkata is the only major Indian city where waiting times have actually improved, dropping from around four-and-a-half months to four months.Everywhere else, the queues have become longer.The delays aren't just significant by Indian standards.Hyderabad and Mumbai now rank among the world's busiest US visa processing locations for visitor visas. Only a handful of cities have longer average waits, including Toronto (21 months), Ottawa (14 months), Vancouver (12 months) and Bogotá (11 months).For many Indian travellers, this means spontaneous trips to the US are becoming increasingly difficult. Whether it's attending a family wedding, visiting relatives or planning a holiday, getting an interview slot has become one of the biggest hurdles.The long queues mainly affect people applying for tourist visas.If you're heading to the US for higher studies, the situation is far more encouraging.Current average wait times for student visas are:Hyderabad: 1.5 monthsMumbai: 1.5 monthsNew Delhi: 2 monthsEmployment-based visas are also moving relatively faster.Average wait times currently stand at:Mumbai: 1.5 monthsNew Delhi: 2 monthsHyderabad: 3.5 monthsSo while tourists are facing lengthy delays, students and skilled professionals aren't experiencing the same level of backlog.Not necessarily - but there's still hope.The US Department of State says the published waiting periods are only averages. They don't guarantee how long an individual applicant will wait.US embassies and consulates regularly release fresh appointment slots, meaning applicants who already have a booking can sometimes log in and reschedule to an earlier date if new slots become available.Some travellers may also qualify for interview waivers, which aren't reflected in the published waiting-time estimates.That's why many applicants keep checking the portal regularly instead of settling for the first available appointment.The US government is also preparing to test a new option that could significantly reduce waiting times for eligible applicants.Under a pilot programme scheduled to run between July 1 and December 31, 2026, certain 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 receive an interview appointment within 10 business days.However, there's one important catch.The US Department of State has not yet revealed which embassies and consulates will be part of the programme. It is still unclear whether any US mission in India will be included.Until then, most Indian travellers hoping to visit the United States will simply have to do one thing: apply much earlier than they think they need to.If a US vacation or family visit is on your 2026 travel list, booking flights may not be your first priority anymore. Securing a visa appointment could prove to be the biggest challenge of all.
