H-1B visa appointment delays leave Indians stranded, jobs at risk

US H-1B visa delays, caused by a new social media vetting policy, are leaving Indians stranded in India and risking their jobs. Some appointments have been postponed to 2026, prompting Google to advise employees against international travel.

Hyderabad: From a routine family visit, visa stamping, to job loss, the US H-1B visa appointment rescheduling is hitting the Indians hard. Several Indians waiting for the H-1B stamping to re-enter the US have already lost their jobs and many are on the verge of losing them.

In one such case, Rakesh (name changed on request), an IT professional in the US, arrived in India for family ceremonies and H-1B stamping with a scheduled appointment on December 18. However, after initial capturing of the biometric details, his visa appointment has been deferred to April 2026.

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“Given the US government rules, my company has decided to delist me from its payroll as I will be outside the US for more than three months. Now I lost my job and have nowhere to go as I am stuck here,” he said.

The main reason for rescheduling the H-1B appointment is due to the new social media vetting policy introduced by the US State Department. The H-1B and their H-4 dependents now have to mandatorily make their social media accounts public, disclose their usernames or IDs used on major platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, even if the accounts have been inactive in the past five years.

This is being done for the applicants whose appointments are scheduled on or after December 15 to ensure a thorough background check on the applicants.

In another case, a data analyst whose visa appointment was scheduled for December 17 was shocked to receive an email informing him that his appointment had been rescheduled to May 2026.

Adding to his woes, the employer did not respond positively to the situation despite his position being critical for the company. His request for remote working, with US business hours, was also turned down, citing violation of the Labour Condition Application (LCA) and company policy that does not allow the H-1B holders to work remotely from abroad.

“Leaving all my belongings in the apartment, I came to India for visa stamping in November, assuming to get back to the US in January 2026. But I am not hopeful that company will keep my job as the appointment is scheduled in April 2026,” he said.

A few managers are approving remote working, albeit informally, for the employees who are already working remotely in the US and came back to India for H-1B visa stamping. However, they fear consequences of violating the LCA and other rules.

Google visa advisory

A prolonged delay in H-1B visa appointments has prompted Google to issue an advisory to its employees on visas not to travel outside the US due to delays at embassies and consulates.

The BAL Immigration Law, Google’s outside counsel, has reportedly sent a memo via email to employees requiring the visa stamp to re-enter the US, not to travel abroad, as the visa processing was taking longer than usual.

As per the memo, the US embassies and consulates were reporting visa stamping delays of up to one year. This advisory was for H-1B and H-4 visas.