Now Reading: US cancels all nonimmigrant visa appointments until September 1
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US cancels all nonimmigrant visa appointments until September 1
The US State Department has ordered the cancellation of all nonimmigrant visa appointments at embassies and consulates worldwide until after September 1, 2026. Applicants received emails stating their interviews could not be…
The US State Department has ordered the cancellation of all nonimmigrant visa appointments at embassies and consulates worldwide until after September 1, 2026. Applicants received emails stating their interviews could not be accommodated before that date. The move follows an instruction issued Monday to reschedule all appointments so consular officers can complete training on a more restrictive policy.
The training sessions this week will teach officers to deny immigrant visas to applicants likely to rely on government aid in the US. The State Department described it as a global training initiative. The cancellations have caused panic, coming after a similar rescheduling in December 2025 led to backlogs and chaos.
Separately, the Trump administration is reviewing visas of foreign citizens who entered the US for tourism or business and then applied for asylum. Officials estimate around 200,000 people could become illegal if the government cracks down on such visas.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The December 2025 rescheduling was triggered by new social media vetting rules for H-1B holders, creating a bottleneck that still affects applicants. This new freeze compounds that backlog at a time when demand for US student and work visas from India is at a historic high. Under US immigration law, nonimmigrant visa processing is discretionary, meaning no applicant has a guaranteed right to an interview date. The key figure to watch is how quickly the State Department clears the backlog after September 1, since another disruption of even a few weeks can push visa issuance for the upcoming academic and fiscal year into serious delay.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
