Hundreds of H-1B visa holders who travelled to India earlier this month to renew their US work permits have been left stranded after their visa interviews were abruptly postponed to next year.
The affected workers had appointments scheduled between December 15 and December 26, a period that also coincides with the US holiday season. Several of these interviews have now been rescheduled to March 2026, according to immigration lawyers and affected applicants.
Law firms handling US immigration matters say the scale of disruption is unprecedented. āThis is the biggest mess we have seen. Iām not sure there is a plan,ā immigration attorney Veena Vijay Ananth told The Washington Post.
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Interviews pushed back amid new vetting rules
According to emails sent by the US State Department, the delays are linked to the rollout of a new social media vetting policy. The policy requires additional scrutiny of applicantsā online activity to assess potential national security or public safety risks.
Several workers who had briefly returned to India for personal reasons, including weddings and family visits, found their interview slots cancelled or marked as expired. In some cases, applicants were informed of the reschedule only days before their original appointment.
The uncertainty has raised concerns among employers in the US, particularly in the technology sector, about how long employees can remain outside the country without jeopardising their jobs.
Earlier this month, the US Embassy in India issued an advisory warning visa applicants not to appear at consulates on previously scheduled dates if they had received a rescheduling notice. Applicants arriving on the old date would not be allowed entry, the advisory said.
Tech companies warn employees against travel
Major US technology companies have also flagged the issue internally. Google and Apple have warned some employees not to travel abroad due to unusually long visa appointment backlogs at American embassies and consulates.
According to Business Insider, Googleās external legal counsel, BAL Immigration Law, advised employees that international travel could result in extended stays outside the US, with delays stretching several months in some cases.
India remains the single largest source of H-1B workers. As per data released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services earlier this year, Indian nationals account for nearly 71 per cent of all H-1B visa holders.
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Tighter scrutiny under Trump administration
The enhanced social media screening forms part of broader immigration scrutiny introduced under the Donald Trump administration. While such checks were earlier applied to students and exchange visitors, they have now been extended to H-1B and H-4 visa applicants.
In September, the administration also announced a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, a move that could significantly affect Indian professionals seeking employment in the US. Separately, several immigration pathways, including green card processing, were paused for applicants from a list of ācountries of concernā following a security review.
For now, stranded visa holders remain in limbo, uncertain about their return timelines and the impact on their employment.
