The US visa appointment wait times have been updated by the State Department on November 20, 2025. The US interview waiver policy, also called Dropbox, for foreign workers on temporary visas, international students on F-1 visas, and many other US travelers, has already been withdrawn.
The interview waiver eligibility was last updated on September 18 and became effective October 1. That leaves most US travellers to take a visa appointment to get an approval to visit the US.
Appointment Wait Times
According to BAL U.S. Practice Group, New Delhi saw a substantial reduction in F, M and J visa next available appointment wait times from 2 months to 0.5 months.
Next available appointment wait times for Shanghai H, L, O, P and Q visas nearly tripled from less than 0.5 months to 3 months compared with the October global visa wait time report.
Chennai (Madras) saw interview-required B-1/B-2 average wait times move from 5 months to “N/A” and interview-required next available appointments decreased from a 5-month wait to a 3-month wait compared with the October report.
New Delhi also saw wait times for B-1/B-2 interview-required visas halved from 6.5 months to 3.5 months compared with the October report.
The cities/posts with the longest average wait times for B-1/B-2 interview required visas are Toronto (16.5 months), San Jose (13 months), Lagos (12.5 months), Merida (11.5 months) and Ottawa (11 months).
Although wait times for next available appointments for petition-based work visas requiring an interview overall range from less than 0.5 months to 3 months, there are some outliers, according to BAL U.S. Practice Group.
Canada’s cities/posts had some of the longest average wait times for “interview-required petition-based next available appointments for work visas” (H, L, O, P, Q) for this report’s time period: Ottawa (4.5 months), Quebec (4.5 months) and Vancouver (4 months).
Overall, the latest global visa wait times of some of the cities that historically have the most visa issuances show the Work visa (H, L, O, P, Q) and student/exchange visitor visa (F, M, J) wait times for next available interview appointments mostly remained the same month over month across these highlighted cities.
Average Wait Time
US State Department monthly updates reveal the average wait time for non-immigrant visa interviews and the estimated time until the next available appointment for visitor visas. The average wait times that the State Department reports do not guarantee that a visa applicant will get an appointment within a specific time.
US embassies and consulates also release additional appointment slots regularly. Applicants who want an earlier appointment slot after initially scheduling their interview should check back regularly and move their appointment to another available slot.
Visa Wait Times and How to Check Availability
State Department calculates months in 30-day increments and half months in 15-day increments. This includes weekends and holidays when embassies close. New appointments are added regularly, so you may get an appointment sooner. Once you have scheduled your interview, you can check the appointment scheduling system and move to an earlier appointment if a slot becomes available.
The “Average wait time” shows how long people typically waited for interviews (measured from fee payment to visa interview date) in the previous month.
Average wait times are provided for B1/B2 visas only in cases where the next available appointment is more than three months away. Average wait times may differ from the next available appointment.
Because the State Department regularly releases new appointments, an applicant can move their appointment to an earlier available slot and ultimately wait less time. When they do not move their appointment earlier, their average wait time could be longer than the present-day next available appointment.