The US State Department has started postponing H-1B visa interviews in India that were supposed to happen later this month, Bloomberg reported. Several immigration lawyers confirmed the development after reviewing emails sent to applicants, adding that the sudden delays come from newly introduced social media checks for H-1B visa seekers.
The timing has made this even harder because this is one of the busiest periods for visa applications in India.
US delays H-1B visa interview in India
Earlier this month, the State Department said it would begin checking the social media accounts of H-1B applicants and their family members on H-4 visas. This process started earlier this year for student visa applicants, and now it is being extended to skilled worker visas too.
Because of this new vetting system, interviews that were planned for mid to late December are being moved as far as next summer. According to Bloomberg, several workers who flew to India to get their visa stamps renewed may now be stuck for months, unable to return to the US until they get new dates. The State Department has not said whether every December appointment is being postponed.
Hundreds of H-1B and H-4 visa appointments are now being moved to March 2026, as US consulates roll out revamped screening procedures, immigration firm Fragomen told ET. One email reviewed by Bloomberg Law said: “Due to operational constraints related to processing these visas and to ensure that no applicants issued a visa pose a threat to US national security or public safety, the US Consulate in Chennai must reduce the number of applicants each day.”
H-1B workers renewing their visas also cannot try for appointments in other countries. In September, the State Department announced that people on temporary visas must attend interviews only in their home country
Back in September, the Trump administration imposed a hefty $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, a cost that employers must now bear. The move hit Indian workers especially hard, as they make up more than 70% of all H-1B visa holders in the US. Many skilled workers from India power Silicon Valley’s tech workforce, and the sudden fee hike has left them scrambling for alternatives as the US tightens its immigration rules to safeguard American jobs.
This fee is just one of several major changes rolled out this year. The administration has also proposed an overhaul of the annual H-1B lottery, and multiple federal agencies have made enforcement of H-1B violations a key focus.
A cable sent to consular officers also asked them to look for any past work that involved “censorship” of free speech, telling them to check resumes and LinkedIn profiles closely.
Student Visa checks were a test run
Before this, consular officers had already begun checking the social media profiles of F-1 student visa applicants, especially after student visa processing was halted for weeks earlier this year. Now, H-1B workers and their families applying for H-4 visas must also make their social media profiles public from December 15.
From this week, applicants with interviews scheduled on or after December 15 have started receiving emails from US consulates saying their interviews will be rescheduled because of these new reviews.