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Updated: December 23, 2025 9:01 AM IST 
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Why the H-1B visa matters for Indian professionals
The H-1B visa is widely used by American companies, especially in the technology sector, to hire skilled foreign workers. Indian professionals make up one of the largest groups of H-1B visa holders. This includes software engineers, IT specialists, and doctors working in the United States.
This update comes at a time when the United States has stepped up action against misuse of the H-1B programme and illegal immigration. As part of this effort, the US government has introduced stricter screening rules, which have slowed down visa processing.
Because of these new policies, hundreds of Indian applicants are facing long delays. Visa interviews scheduled from December 15 onwards have been postponed and rescheduled months later. Many interviews have been cancelled in bulk due to enhanced background and social media checks.
As a result, several Indian professionals who had travelled to India for visa appointments are now stranded. Without a valid H-1B visa stamp, they cannot return to the US to resume their jobs. For instance, applicants with interviews fixed for December 15 were later informed that their new dates would be sometime in March, while those scheduled for December 19 were pushed to late May.
These delays are causing serious disruption to careers and adding uncertainty for Indian workers employed in the US under the H-1B programme.
