US Visa Appointment Wait Time by City (2026)
Compare published interview waits across India's five consulates, see the earliest month you could realistically be interviewed, and get the DS-160, fee and booking checklist with dates.
Last updated: October 5, 2026. The single question Indian applicants ask more than any other is how long they will actually wait for a US visa interview, and the honest answer is that it changes by post, by visa class and by week. This US visa appointment wait time tool takes the Department of State's published estimates for each consulate, converts them into a months and weeks figure, works forward from today to the earliest realistic interview month, and lays out the DS-160, fee and booking steps with the dates you should hit them. The wait is only half the planning problem: the other half is knowing which post to book. For the underlying data see our US visa interview wait times guide, and for slot-release patterns read US visa slots in India for 2026.
Your appointment estimate
| Step | Target date | Cost |
|---|
All posts ranked for your category
| Rank | Consulate | Published wait | Earliest interview |
|---|
Wait figures are the Department of State's published estimates checked on 1 October 2026; the earliest-interview column is that estimate added to today's date and rounded up to the month, so treat it as a planning floor rather than a bookable date. Fees are non-refundable.
What the State Department Actually Publishes
The Department of State does not publish one number per embassy. It reports wait times separately by category, which is why a single consulate can show a two-month wait for students and a ten-month wait for visitors on the same day. In its own quarterly reporting the Department groups every nonimmigrant case into four buckets: visitor visas (B1/B2), student and exchange visas (F, M, J), petition-based work visas (H, L, O, P, Q) and crew and transit visas (C, D, C1/D). If your category is an E treaty visa, a K fiancé visa or an I journalist visa, there is usually no published estimate at all and you will have to judge from the booking calendar itself. The tool above therefore treats anything outside the four groups as "not published" instead of guessing.
Two different measurements exist and people routinely confuse them. The average interview wait is the mean number of days between scheduling and the interview over the previous period; the next available appointment is whatever the booking portal is offering you right now. A post can publish a six-month average while releasing a cancellation next Tuesday. The Department also states that average wait times for B1/B2 are shown only where the next available appointment is more than three months away, which is one reason a cell occasionally reads "not published" for a category that clearly exists.
| Category group | Typical visas | MRV application fee | Extra fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitors (B1/B2) | B-1 business, B-2 tourism, B1/B2 combined | $185 | None |
| Students and exchange (F, M, J) | F-1 academic, M-1 vocational, J-1 exchange | $185 | SEVIS I-901: $350 (F and M), $220 (J) |
| Petition-based work (H, L, O, P, Q) | H-1B, L-1, O-1, P athletes and artists | $205 | Petitioner costs already paid by the employer |
| Crew and transit (C, D, C1/D) | Seamen, airline crew, transit passengers | $185 | None |
| Other | E treaty trader or investor, K fiancé, I press | $315 (E), $265 (K) | No published wait estimate |
From fiscal year 2026 most issued nonimmigrant visas also carry a $250 Visa Integrity Fee at the moment of issuance, and some nationalities pay a country-specific reciprocity fee. None of these change your appointment date; they change your budget. Full breakdowns live in our DS-160 guide.
Current US Visa Interview Wait Times by City
The table below is a dated snapshot of the published estimates for India's five Visa Application Centres, checked on 1 October 2026. Nothing about it is permanently true: the Department of State updates these figures continuously as workload, staffing and demand move, and appointment capacity can be added without warning. Use it to choose a post, then confirm the live number before you pay.
| Consulate | B1/B2 visitors | F-1 students | H-1B workers | L-1 workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | 6 months (180 days) | 2 months (60 days) | 1 month (30 days) | 1 month (30 days) |
| Chennai | 7 months (210 days) | Not published | 1.5 months (45 days) | 1.5 months (45 days) |
| New Delhi | 7.5 months (225 days) | 2 months (60 days) | 3 months (90 days) | 3 months (90 days) |
| Mumbai | 11 months (330 days) | 2.5 months (75 days) | 1.5 months (45 days) | 1.5 months (45 days) |
| Hyderabad | 11.5 months (345 days) | 1.5 months (45 days) | 5.5 months (165 days) | 5.5 months (165 days) |
Source: U.S. Department of State published wait-time estimates for each post and category, checked 1 October 2026. "Not published" means the Department issued no estimate for that category at that post on the date checked; it does not mean appointments are unavailable.
Post-by-Post Notes
Kolkata is the shortest wait for visitors in this snapshot and the shortest for H-1B and L-1 as well, but it handles a smaller share of India's workload and releases fewer slots overall, so a short average can sit behind a thin calendar. Chennai sits in second place for B1/B2 and is a natural choice for applicants in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with strong student and work numbers when a figure is published. New Delhi, the embassy itself, carries the largest and most varied workload, offers the widest spread of categories, and is usually the most predictable post for appointment inventory.
Mumbai and Hyderabad are the two slowest for visitors in this snapshot, both above ten months, which is a direct consequence of demand: Mumbai is India's business capital and Hyderabad is its technology hub, so business and work applications pile up behind tourist ones. Hyderabad is simultaneously one of the fastest posts for students. That combination — terrible for B1/B2, good for F-1 and middling for H-1B — is exactly why a single "India wait time" figure is meaningless, and why this tool asks for your category first.
Applicants may schedule at any post in India regardless of where they live. The five Visa Application Centres are Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi, and the same choice applies at the document submission stage. Before building a plan around a distant city, add the cost of travel, the chance of a reschedule, and the fact that a missed appointment costs you the fee.
How to Work Out Your Earliest Interview Month
The arithmetic is simple and worth doing yourself: today plus the published wait equals your planning floor. Because the published figure is an average rather than a bookable date, round up to the whole month and then add a contingency month for the gaps that always appear between scheduling, document review and a free reschedule. A 180-day wait from 5 October 2026 lands on 3 April 2027, so plan for April or May rather than April, and never commit to a non-refundable flight before the appointment is confirmed.
| Consulate (B1/B2) | Published wait | Wait in weeks | Earliest month from 5 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kolkata | 180 days | 26 weeks | April 2027 |
| Chennai | 210 days | 30 weeks | May 2027 |
| New Delhi | 225 days | 33 weeks | May 2027 |
| Mumbai | 330 days | 48 weeks | August 2027 |
| Hyderabad | 345 days | 50 weeks | September 2027 |
If your travel date is nearer than the earliest month, your realistic options are narrow: book anyway and hope for a cancellation, switch to a post with a shorter wait, or qualify for an emergency appointment on medical, bereavement or urgent-business grounds. What does not work is assuming the estimate is pessimistic. Track your options on our trackers page and model the whole timeline with the visa timeline calculator.
DS-160, Fee and Appointment Checklist with Dates
The order matters more than the speed. Paying the fee before your DS-160 is complete locks you into a payment record you cannot easily move, and booking before your form is submitted creates the barcode mismatch that now gets applicants turned away at the window. Work through the steps in sequence and give each one a date, which is what the calculator above does for you.
| Step | When | What you need | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Complete the DS-160 | Day 0, before paying anything | Passport details, travel plan, photo meeting the 600x600 to 1200x1200 pixel rule | Free |
| 2. Save the confirmation page | Day 0 | Application ID and AA barcode; re-print it any time from CEAC | Free |
| 3. Pay the MRV fee | Day 1 to Day 3 | Receipt number through the approved payment channels | $185 visitor or student, $205 work |
| 4. Pay SEVIS I-901 | Before booking, students and J-1 only | Form I-20 or DS-2019 | $350 F and M, $220 J |
| 5. Create the profile and book | Day 3 onwards | Passport, DS-160 confirmation, fee receipt | Free |
| 6. Prepare documents | Two weeks before the interview | Employment or admission proof, funds, itinerary, ties | Free |
| 7. Attend the interview | Published wait from today | Passport, DS-160 confirmation, supporting originals | Included |
| 8. Courier return | About 3 to 7 working days after approval | Tracking number from the service provider | Often included |
One free reschedule has been the rule since 1 January 2025: a second change, or a missed appointment, means paying the fee again. Build that fact into your dates rather than discovering it afterwards.
Choosing the Best Post: A Ranked Comparison
Ranking only makes sense inside one category. For visitors the order in this snapshot is Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad; for petition-based work it flips to Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad; for students Hyderabad leads with New Delhi and Kolkata close behind. The right choice balances three things: the wait for your category, the travel you can absorb if the date moves, and the post's history with your case type. A three-week advantage is not worth a flight you cannot change; a four-month advantage usually is.
Do not ignore the visa class attached to your old passport. Interview waiver is now limited to renewals in the same class where the previous visa is still valid or expired within twelve months, so a B1/B2 holder whose visa expired fourteen months ago must attend in person even for a renewal. Our US visa processing time guide for India covers what happens after the interview, and visa-calculator estimates cost across a multi-stop itinerary.
Pro Tips: Drop Slots, Alternate Posts and Peak Seasons
- There is no published slot schedule. Capacity is released in batches, applicants report fresh slots most often between midnight and 6 am IST, and cancellations reopen at unpredictable times through the day. Check several times a day rather than once.
- Watch for cancellations, not just new blocks. A cancelled appointment often reappears within hours and is the fastest way to jump months of queue. Treat any cancellation you find as perishable and take it immediately.
- Move post before you move date. Because applicants may book anywhere in India, switching city is the single largest lever you control. Recalculate with the tool above before accepting a date that is months later than an alternative.
- Respect the peaks. Student interviews build from April to June for autumn intake, and visitor demand rises before the December holidays and the Indian summer break. If you must travel in a peak, book in the opposite season.
- Keep your fee receipt and barcode aligned. Since April 2025 many posts refuse to interview applicants whose DS-160 confirmation number does not match the one used to book. Check it before you travel, not at the counter.
- Use the waiver when you genuinely qualify. Mission India says drop-box documents are typically processed in about three weeks, which is dramatically faster than any interview queue — but only for same-class renewals expired within twelve months.
What Changed in 2025-2026
Three changes explain most of the confusion applicants hit this year. First, in February 2025 interview waiver eligibility was cut from any visa class expired within 48 months to the same class expired within 12 months, which pushed a large group of renewers back into the interview queue and lengthened visitor waits. Second, from 1 January 2025 applicants get one free reschedule and must repay the fee for any further change. Third, Mission India centralised parts of the process, including drop-box submissions, and introduced a new scheduling system across Indian posts, which changes how and when inventory appears on the calendar.
Behind all of it sits demand: US Mission India issued more than one million nonimmigrant visas in 2024 and again the following year, so the queue you are joining is the largest in the world. Waiting is normal. What is not normal is waiting without a plan, which is what this page is for.
US Visa Appointment Wait Time FAQs
How We Fact-Checked These Wait Times
Post and category figures were checked on October 5, 2026 against the Department of State's published wait-time table as compiled on 1 October 2026, and the four official reporting groups (B1/B2, F/M/J, H/L/O/P/Q, C/D) against the Department's quarterly wait-time reporting. Fees were checked against the State Department fee schedule: $185 non-petition, $205 petition-based, $315 E, $265 K, SEVIS I-901 at $350 for F and M and $220 for J. The interview-waiver and rescheduling rules were checked against U.S. Mission India announcements of February 2025 and 1 January 2025. Wait times change weekly and no figure here is guaranteed; confirm on travel.state.gov and the appointment portal on the day you book.