Sudden US move pushes H-1B interviews to 2026: Why travelling to India could cost visa holders their jobs | Explained

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Indian H-1B visa holders have been warned against travelling to India after the United States abruptly postponed visa interviews that were scheduled for December. The interviews have now been pushed to March, April, or even May 2026, leaving thousands of workers in uncertainty. Immigration attorneys have warned that travelling at this time could cost many workers their jobs because most US companies cannot legally allow long periods of remote work from outside the country.

Hundreds of H-1B holders had already flown to India to attend their December appointments when they received last-minute emails informing them that their interviews had been rescheduled. The sudden change occurred a week after the US State Department announced that it would expand social media screening to include H-1B applicants and their dependents.

India Today quoted immigration attorney Rahul Reddy saying that H-1B professionals should avoid international travel unless they already have a valid visa stamp in their passport. “Do not travel internationally for visa stamping unless you already have a valid visa in your passport,” he said.

Reddy explained why travelling now could leave workers stranded. “Employers cannot keep an H-1B role vacant for half a year. Many cannot legally allow remote work from outside the United States due to export control, payroll, and tax restrictions. This reality means one thing: if an H-1B worker travels now, they may return not to their job but to unemployment.”

India Today, in its report, quoted Rebecca Chen, an immigration attorney from the same firm, advising that even applicants who have not yet received postponement emails should avoid travel. She noted that those already in India must now wait for their rescheduled appointment because a visa stamp is required to reenter the United States.

According to experts cited by The Times of India, visa stamping is only needed for entry into the US and does not affect a worker’s legal status if they remain inside the country. This is why attorneys are urging H-1B holders who are still in the US to avoid unnecessary travel.

The rescheduling affects interviews between mid- and late December, with some appointments pushed as far as next summer, multiple attorneys told Bloomberg. The change will hit Indian workers the hardest, as the majority of H-1B visa holders in the US are from India.

Those who had travelled home for their appointments now face months of uncertainty and cannot return to their jobs until they obtain a new visa stamp.

The postponements follow new State Department rules requiring H-1B and H-4 applicants to make their social media accounts public for background checks. This expanded review first began with student visa applicants earlier this year and is now being applied more broadly.

The increased scrutiny has slowed down processing, leading to the mass rescheduling of interviews and what immigration lawyers are calling one of the most disruptive policy changes for H-1B holders in years.