United States | Global visa wait times as of Jan. 14: Chennai/Madras shows dramatic decrease in certain B-1/B-2 visa wait times

The State Department updated global visa wait times on Jan. 14, 2026.

The average wait times reported do not guarantee a visa applicant will get an appointment within a specific time. U.S. embassies and consulates regularly release additional appointment slots. Applicants who want an earlier appointment slot after initially scheduling their interview should check back frequently and move their appointment to another slot if available.

January 2026 global visa wait times chart highlights

The following are selected chart highlights from the latest global visa wait times of some of the cities/posts that historically have the most visa issuances compared with the December global visa wait time report. Work visa (H, L, O, P, Q) wait times for next available interview appointments showed increased wait times compared to last month for Beijing and Chennai/Madras. These wait times are expected to increase following the State Department’s mandate published Dec. 3, 2025, expanding the requirement for “online presence review” to include all H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents.

Compared to an approximate global average wait time of less than 15 days to one month, Canadian cities/posts continue to have some of the longest average wait times for “interview required petition-based next available appointment” work visas, including Ottawa (6.5 months), Quebec (6.5 months) and Vancouver (4.5 months).

Although Shanghai’s average wait times for the work visa categories decreased by three months, it did see an increase in average wait times for student/exchange visitor visas (F, M, J) by 2.5 months, bringing the wait times for F, M and J visas to 3.5 months.

Interview-required B-1/B-2 visa average wait times decreased slightly for Hyderabad and New Delhi. However, Chennai/Madras showed a dramatic decrease in wait times month-over-month from seven months to 1.5 months.

The cities/posts with the longest average wait times for interview-required B-1/B-2 visas for this reporting period are Toronto (18 months), Tegucigalpa (16.5 months), Merida (10.5 months), Ottawa (10 months) and Vancouver (10 months).

Additional Information: More details on the different visa categories referenced in the table can be found here. Wait times are calculated in months in 30-day increments and half-months in 15-day increments. Average wait times are provided for B-1/B-2 visas only in cases where the next available appointment is more than three months away.

Applicants are reminded that post-specific instructions are available on the website of the U.S. embassy or consulate where the applicant schedules their interview. Links to U.S. embassies and consulates can be found here. Applicants should be aware there may be limitations on how many times they can reschedule an appointment. Appointment calendar access for a specific post may not be accessible until the DS-160 visa application has been submitted and the required fee has been paid. (The fee is typically nontransferable across countries.)

Embassies and consulates may waive the in-person interview requirement for eligible applicants. Wait times for these appointments are not reflected in the visa wait timetables. Please check the individual U.S. embassy or consulate website to find out if a waiver of the in-person interview is available. Interview waiver eligibility was last updated on Sept. 18, 2025, and became effective Oct. 1, 2025.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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