US visa wait for Indians hits 346 days: Why are queues so long? - The Indian Express

Indian applicants faced a weighted average wait of 346 days to obtain a US visitor visa interview in fiscal year 2025, more than eight times the 42-day average recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a US Government Accountability Office report.

The GAO report, released on Monday, found that long waits were linked in part to consular staffing levels not keeping pace with demand. India had 68 consular officers working on nonimmigrant visas in FY2025 while handling 1,455,255 applications, equivalent to 21,401 applications per officer.

The 346-day figure refers to the weighted average time to obtain an interview for a visitor visa. It does not mean that every applicant waited 346 days, nor does it represent the time taken to receive a final visa decision.

A US government audit finds consular officers in India carry one of the heaviest workloads anywhere, and Indian applicants wait nearly a year for an interview.

*GAO attaches a footnote to Canada’s figure; see the report. US fiscal year 2025 ran from October 2024 to September 2025.

India had more applications than China but 51 fewer officers. Each officer in India handled about twice the load of one in China.

Mexico’s per-officer load was almost the same as India’s, but its average wait was 63 days shorter.

Blue bars compare applications per officer; red bars compare wait times. Wait is the weighted average time to obtain an interview.

GAO recommends that the State Department regularly assess where it needs consular staff. State neither agreed nor disagreed.

Source: US Government Accountability Office (GAO-26-107902), analysis of State Department data, September 2026.

The GAO examined the US State Department’s handling of nonimmigrant visas, which include visitor visas for tourism and business as well as visas for students, diplomats and temporary workers.

Worldwide, the weighted average wait to obtain a visitor-visa interview increased from 26 days in fiscal 2019 to 201 days in FY2025 — nearly eight times the pre-pandemic level.

At the same time, the number of US consular officers working on nonimmigrant visas fell from 1,342 in FY2024 to 904 in FY2025. GAO said the decline was associated with hiring freezes and attrition.

The longer waits did not result from a fall in the number of visas being processed. The State Department adjudicated 9.2 million visitor visas in FY2019, before the pandemic. The figure fell to 1.5 million in FY2021 as Covid-19 disrupted international travel, but rose to 11.7 million in FY2025 — above the pre-pandemic level.

GAO said the State Department has had difficulty ensuring staffing levels keep pace with demand at some consular posts.

The report points to a mismatch between demand and staffing at some US consular posts. The number of officers working on nonimmigrant visas had recovered from a pandemic-era low of 1,104 in FY2021 to 1,342 in FY2024, close to the pre-pandemic level.

But that number fell to 904 in FY2025 amid hiring freezes and attrition, according to GAO.

The State Department has a Global Repositioning Exercise, or GREX, designed to assess workloads and help align staffing with demand across posts.

However, GAO said State had conducted the exercise only once since FY2019. It was not conducted in FY2021 and FY2022 because of Covid-related issues and was not conducted in FY2024 and FY2025 because of changing policy priorities.

GAO recommended that the State Department establish a mechanism requiring the Bureau of Consular Affairs to conduct the exercise consistently.

The State Department neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation.

In addition, they said that many people apply for a visitor visa because it is seen as a social status symbol in India, but they have no intention of actually travelling to the US. Checking these types of factors takes additional time, according to State officials.

The 346-day figure is a historical FY2025 average and should not be interpreted as a fixed appointment wait for every applicant in India.

It measures the time taken to obtain an interview for a visitor visa. The actual wait can vary by consular post, visa category and appointment availability.

It also does not measure how long the State Department takes to decide a visa application after an interview.

GAO noted that international travel and tourism contributed $176 billion to the US economy in 2025.

That was $5 billion lower than in 2024 and $28 billion below the pre-pandemic level.

The report said long waits for tourist-visa interviews were among the factors contributing to the decline.

GAO said the State Department has to balance the speed and efficiency of visa processing with national-security requirements, with interviews required in most cases before a visa can be issued.

Nischai Vats is a Deputy Copy Editor at The Indian Express. His work primarily covers US politics and visa and immigration policy, alongside broader international developments, with an emphasis on accuracy, verification, and clear explainers. Experience Nischai joined The Indian Express in May 2024 where he works on writing, editing, and refining high-impact stories for digital platforms. His role involves ensuring editorial consistency, factual accuracy, and clarity in coverage of complex policy-driven subjects. Earlier in his career, he worked across Indian digital newsrooms in reporting and editing roles, including stints at Inshorts, Newslaundry, Tiranga TV, and Catch News. His newsroom experience spans rapid digital publishing, ground reporting, and copy editing across national, civic, and policy beats. Expertise His core areas of focus include: US politics and governance: Coverage of American political developments, executive actions, and policy shifts. US visa and immigration policy: Reporting and editing stories on visa categories, regulatory changes, and immigration pathways affecting global audiences. Editorial accuracy and copy editing: Ensuring clarity, language precision, and verification in fast-paced digital news environments. Authoritativeness and trustworthiness Nischai's journalism is grounded in verified sources, official documentation, and clear attribution, in line with The Indian Express’ editorial standards. His background across reporting and editing enables him to translate complex policy updates into reliable, reader-friendly coverage. ... Read More