No regular slot for H-1B visa stamping opened in India in the last over 100 days and no slots are available in 2026.
Indian-origin investor and founder of the Indian-American Advocacy Council, Sidharth, said it has been more than 100 days thata single regular H-1B appointment slot has been released in India. There are five consulates in India with zero availability of a regular slot for H-1B visa stamping and earliest dates are now pushed to 2027. US-Israel-Iran War News Live Updates: Iran vows tit-for-tat strike after Trump’s 48hr ultimatum, threatens to hit US-Israel energy facility Watch: Missile strike rocks Israel’s ‘Little India’ as Iran attack injures over 40; videos show chaos Thousands of H-1B visa holders got stuck in India and there is no clear solution to the situation as the legal departments of the US employers are also not sure about what to do with their employees stuck in India.
Because of this crisis to work from India but several complicacies are arising out of this unprecented situation, some companies like Amazon, allowed H-1B visa holders stuck in India. With no solution to the H-1B crisis in India triggered by the visa stamping delays, the Indian-American community voiced their concern and urged the USCIS to stop using Indian immigrants as a tool for political propaganda. “Thousands stranded. Families torn apart. Careers destroyed,” the post read. “They followed every rule. Filed every form. Paid every fee. Many people are at the risk of losing their jobs, propert lease in the US and
Over 100 injured in Israel amid Iran’s missile attack; Netanyahu calls it ‘difficult evening in battle for future’ And the system is punishing them for visiting their parents,” it added. The crisis started around mid-December 2025 when the new rule of social media vetting of H-1Bs kicked in. After they traveled to India, they were informed that their appointment dates which were in December 2025 have been deferred to March-April 2026. This led to a massive pile up of appointments and entire 2026 was taken up by deferred appointments. The latest update on the situation is that no dates have opened up for any regular appointment in 2026.
Keeping in mind the year-end vacation time, many Indians traveled back to the country to get their visa stamping updated. Without this stamping, their visa does not become invalid but they can’t re-enter the US. This happened as the consulated reduced the number of per-day appointments as they started checking social media history of the visa holders.