Lengthy stamping queues at U.S. consulates in India are turning routine home-leave trips into career-threatening ordeals for H-1B workers. According to immigration attorneys interviewed on 15 January, appointment slots at the Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai missions are now pushed to late April, leaving Indian tech talent idled for months and forcing American employers to scramble for interim cover.
Companies and individual travelers facing this visa bottleneck can streamline many of the administrative hurdles through VisaHQ’s online concierge platform; by pre-checking DS-160 forms, flagging errors that cause rejections, arranging priority courier pick-ups and routing passports to the correct consulate, VisaHQ India (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can shave days off the front end and keep mobility timelines on track.
![Visa Stamping Backlog Strands Hundreds of Indian H-1B Professionals, Threatens U.S. Job Security]()
The backlog is tied to tightened social-media vetting under the Trump administration’s January executive order, which doubled interview-adjudication times. Indians make up over 70 percent of all H-1B holders; even a two-month departure can trigger project delays, lost billable hours and, in worst-case scenarios, contract terminations.
Some firms have begun relocating stranded employees to near-shore hubs in Canada and Mexico on short-term work permits, but that solution inflates relocation budgets by up to 40 percent. Others are petitioning for remote-work waivers, though export-control rules limit off-shore access to certain U.S. technologies.
Global mobility leaders are advised to (1) book stamping appointments at the time of U.S. petition filing, (2) maintain back-up labour-condition applications that allow redeployment to overseas subsidiaries, and (3) confirm payroll compliance for employees stuck abroad, especially where state “work-from-anywhere” tax rules apply.
Companies and individual travelers facing this visa bottleneck can streamline many of the administrative hurdles through VisaHQ’s online concierge platform; by pre-checking DS-160 forms, flagging errors that cause rejections, arranging priority courier pick-ups and routing passports to the correct consulate, VisaHQ India (https://www.visahq.com/india/) can shave days off the front end and keep mobility timelines on track.
The backlog is tied to tightened social-media vetting under the Trump administration’s January executive order, which doubled interview-adjudication times. Indians make up over 70 percent of all H-1B holders; even a two-month departure can trigger project delays, lost billable hours and, in worst-case scenarios, contract terminations.
Some firms have begun relocating stranded employees to near-shore hubs in Canada and Mexico on short-term work permits, but that solution inflates relocation budgets by up to 40 percent. Others are petitioning for remote-work waivers, though export-control rules limit off-shore access to certain U.S. technologies.
Global mobility leaders are advised to (1) book stamping appointments at the time of U.S. petition filing, (2) maintain back-up labour-condition applications that allow redeployment to overseas subsidiaries, and (3) confirm payroll compliance for employees stuck abroad, especially where state “work-from-anywhere” tax rules apply.
