US visa waiting time for Indians is 800 days, China is 2

Indians seeking a B-1 business visa or a B-2 tourist visa in New Delhi could expect to wait more than two years or 833 days.

A debate erupted on social media comparing the wait time for visa appointments in India, which has reached over two years, to visa appointments in China.

The US state department website estimates that applicants in New Delhi for the B-1 business visa and B-2 tourist visa must wait 833 days, or more than two years, to be scheduled for an interview. In other words, a visiting visa applicant can anticipate receiving an appointment in January 2025.

These visas take 767 days at the Kolkata consulate and 848 days at the Mumbai consulate to process.

As opposed to Indian cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have much shorter wait times for visa applications. There is a two-day wait at the US embassy in Beijing, the capital of China.

The US Embassy in India said on Tuesday that it has opened appointments for all categories of visas, stressing that the waiting period is still lengthy due to the strong demand for the visas, low staffing, and operational difficulties brought on by the pandemic that started in March 2020.