Back to Resources

Applying for B Visitor Visas for Indian Citizens Outside of India

The wait time to get a visa appointment for a B-1/B-2 visitor visa in India is over a year. As of October, 2024, every consulate is publishing an estimated wait time for an interview appointment in excess of 400 days.

  • Chennai: 403 days
  • Hyderabad: 447 days
  • Kolkata: 457
  • Mumbai: 465 days
  • New Delhi: 444 days

For Indian citizens looking to travel to the US and for US companies looking to welcome Indian citizens to the US for meetings, conferences, and other business engagements, this is simply unsustainable.

Indian citizens should consider traveling to US consulates in other countries to apply for B visitor visas. Indian citizens have limited countries they can travel to without another visa, but many nearby countries have visas available on arrival or fairly easy eVisa options available. For example, Indian citizens get a 30 day visa on arrival in Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

The Department of State is asking consulates to publish the wait times for visa appointments for third country nationals. Third country nationals are considered to be individuals who are not citizens of the country the consulate and do not reside in the country the consulate is in either. 

For example, the US Embassy in Bahrain is posting a wait time of 28 days and the US Embassy in Malaysia is posting a wait time of 90 days.

While there are certainly additional costs in traveling to other countries to pursue a US visitor visa, this can be worth the cost to advance the process by close to a year. 

For more information and other innovative solutions, please contact your Meltzer Hellrung attorney.