Immigration News - Consular Services, Global visa wait times, United States United States | Global visa wait times as of Oct. 22: Toronto and Ottawa B-1/B-2 visa wait times continue to lag Share this article LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) October 28, 2025 The State Department updated global visa wait times on Oct. 22, 2025. 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. October 2025 chart highlights Excerpted below are chart highlights from the latest global visa wait times of some of the cities/posts that historically have the most visa issuances. Most notably, work visa (H, L, O, P, Q) and student/exchange visitor visa (F, M, J) wait times for next available interview appointments mostly remained the same month over month across all cities/posts. Although Chennai (Madras) saw B-1/B-2 average wait times reduced by 72% month over month in the September report, the current report shows average wait times for interview required B-1/B-2 visas doubled from 2. 5 months to 5 months. New Delhi also saw wait times for B-1/B-2 interview required visas nearly double from 3.5 months to 6.5 months. Hermosillo saw a drastic reduction in B-1/B-2 interview required visas wait times from 20.5 months in the September report to 6.5 months in the October report.* City/Post Interview required B-1/B-2 visas average wait times Interview required B-1/B-2 visas next available appointment Interview required F, M, J visas next available appointment Interview required petition-based H, L, O, P, Q visas next available appointment Beijing N/A 0.5 months 1 month <0.5 months Chennai (Madras) 5 months 5 months 2 months 1 month Ciudad Juarez 6 months 15 months <0.5 months <0.5 months Guatemala City 9 months 2.5 months N/A <0.5 months Hermosillo 6.5 months 10 months <0.5 months <0.5 months Ho Chi Minh City N/A <0.5 months <0.5 months <0.5 months Hong Kong N/A <0.5 months N/A <0.5 months Hyderabad 4.5 months 4.5 months 2 months 3 months Mexico City 9.5 months 9.5 months N/A 1 month New Delhi 6.5 months 11 months 2 months N/A Shanghai N/A <0.5 months 1 month <0.5 months The cities/posts with the longest average wait times for B-1/B-2 interview required visas were: Tegucigalpa (14.5 months), Toronto (14 months) and Ottawa (12 months). Although wait times for next available appointments for petition-based work visas requiring an interview overall range from less than 0.5 months to 1 month, there are some outliers. The cities/posts with the longest average wait times for interview required petition-based next available appointments for work visas (H, L, O, P, Q) were: Lusaka (10 months), Rangoon (6 months), Addis Ababa (4.5 months) and Ottawa (4 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. 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 and became effective Oct. 1. *The current global visa wait times were compared with global visa wait times posted by the State Department on Sept. 17, 2025. This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. Copyright © 2025 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.