Subscribers to our bulletin and readers of MurthyIndiaDotCom are aware of the recent technical issues that led to a world-wide stand still of the visa application process. Following this, we had reported that appointments scheduled for Friday, August 7 and Monday, August 10, 2015, were cancelled at all U.S. Missions in India. We understand that all posts in China and Hong Kong have also cancelled the appointments.

Following this, there is a splurge in requirement for visa interview dates at the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India. As of this writing, there is almost a four-week wait time at the U.S. Consulate in Chennai. The average wait times in Hyderabad and Mumbai is two weeks. The average wait time at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi and Kolkata is less than a week.

In general, non-immigrant visa interview dates were available within a week at almost all consulates, prior to the major technical glitch in the Oracle based consular computer systems in June 2015. Though the reasons for cancellation of visa interviews has not been updated on the official consular information website of U.S. missions in India, the U.S. missions in China and Hong Kong have cited upgrade of their computer systems as the reason for the cancellations.

We strongly recommended that students / business travelers / returning workers plan their travel, considering the current wait times. If one has an urgent need to travel, the U.S. missions continue to provide out-of-turn appointments. It may be recalled that applicants from India can apply from any post in India. Accordingly, one may choose to apply from one of the posts that has minimal wait time if there is immediate need to travel and s/he does not qualify for an emergency appointment as required by the consulate.