Hundreds of Indian H-1B holders are 'stuck' in India this winter: Why December has become a nightmare for visa renewals

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Hundreds of Indian professionals working in the United States on H-1B visas are currently stuck in India, unable to return to their jobs after travelling home for routine visa renewals during the December holiday season. What was meant to be a short visit has turned into an uncertain wait stretching into 2026 for many.

The disruption follows a sudden and widespread postponement of H-1B and H-4 visa interviews at US embassies and consulates across India. Interviews scheduled between December 15 and December 26 were cancelled or deferred with little warning, leaving applicants stranded after their visas expired.

The immediate cause was a major change in US visa screening rules. From December 15, the US Department of State expanded social media and online presence checks to cover all H-1B and H-4 applicants worldwide. Earlier, such scrutiny was applied selectively.

In emails reviewed by The Washington Post, the State Department said interviews were being delayed to allow for enhanced screening “to ensure that no applicants … pose a threat to US national security or public safety.”

December is traditionally the most popular month for H-1B renewals because of office shutdowns and holidays in the US. The timing of the cancellations left many workers with no alternative once their visas expired.

On December 9, the US Embassy in India issued a public advisory instructing applicants not to appear on their original interview dates if they had received rescheduling notices.

“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. Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate,” the advisory said.

For many applicants, this meant being turned away despite having already travelled to another city or completed documentation.

Immigration lawyers say the scale of disruption is unlike anything they have seen in recent years.

Emily Neumann, a partner at Houston-based firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC, said she had “at least 100 clients stranded in India” because of the cancellations. Veena Vijay Ananth, an immigration lawyer based in India, described the situation bluntly. “This is the biggest mess we have seen. I’m not sure there is a plan,” she said.

Atlanta-based attorney Charles Kuck also confirmed handling multiple cases where workers were unable to return to the US after interviews were postponed.

Lawyers say the delays were applied uniformly, regardless of an applicant’s compliance record or years of employment in the US.

The human impact has been severe. Many affected workers are mid-career professionals with homes, children and long-term jobs in the US.

One Indian resident of suburban Detroit told The Washington Post that he travelled to India for a family wedding and had interviews scheduled for December 17 and December 23. Both were cancelled, leaving him unable to return.

Neumann warned that employers may not wait indefinitely. “How long are companies going to be willing to wait for these people?” she asked.

According to US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Indian nationals account for 71 percent of all H-1B visa holders, meaning the disruption has hit Indians the hardest.

Major technology firms have begun advising employees not to travel internationally. According to reports by Reuters and Business Insider, Google and Apple have warned staff that re-entry processing could take up to a year.

Google’s external counsel told employees that travelling abroad could “risk an extended stay outside the US.”

The interview chaos is part of a broader tightening of the visa regime under President Donald Trump. In July, the State Department ended third-country visa renewals for H-1B holders, forcing applicants to return home. In September, Trump announced a one-time USD 100,000 fee for new H-1B applications.

Defending the tougher stance, a State Department spokesperson said, “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.”

Another spokesperson added, “While in the past the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world, including in India, are now prioritising thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else.”

For thousands of Indian professionals, the result is a prolonged limbo where careers, incomes and family lives remain on hold with no clear timeline for resolution.