H-1B Visa Interviews of Thousands of Applicants in India Cancelled, Triggering Outrage

PTI, NEW DELHI, DEC 10, 2025 : Pre-scheduled interviews of thousands of H-1B visa applicants slated for later this month in India have been abruptly postponed by several months, apparently to scrutinise their social media posts and online profiles. Some of the applicants, whose visa appointments were scheduled next week, have received e-mails from US immigration authorities informing that their interviews are being pushed back as late as May next year.

The mass cancellation of scheduled interviews of the H-1B visa applicants in view of the enhanced vetting measures is set to result in significant delays in their return to the US. The rescheduling of the interviews is for all applicants who were previously given appointments from December 15 onwards. Most of them were already in India and are now unable to return to the US pending their new interview dates since they don't have a valid H-1B visa to travel back to the US for their jobs.

For example, those whose interviews were scheduled for December 15 received emails postponing the date to sometime in March. Applicants whose appointments were scheduled for December 19 were given new dates in late May. It is learnt that interviews of several other categories of visa applicants are also being postponed in view of the new norms for scrutinising the social media profiles of the applicants.

The exact number of applicants impacted by the delays in the visa interviews is not immediately known. The US Embassy in India urged visa applicants not to come to the consular offices based on their previously scheduled interview date. "If you have received an email advising that your visa appointment has been rescheduled, Mission India looks forward to assisting you on your new appointment date," it said. "Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate," it added.

Many visa applicants put out anonymous posts on social media sharing their ordeal. Houston-based immigration attorney Emily Neumann criticised the cancellation of the H-1B visa appointments in India. The Trump administration has been tightening the H-1B visa programme under its broader policy on checking immigration. There has been wider scrutiny now of social media posts and profiles of visa applicants. Under the H-1B visa programme, companies recruit foreign workers with specialised skills to work in the US, initially for three years that can be renewed for three more years.