US Visa for Indians: The 2026 Guide

US Visa Categories for Indian Citizens

1. H-1B Specialty Occupation Visa

USCIS says the H-1B classification applies to people who wish to perform services in a specialty occupation, services of exceptional merit and ability relating to a Department of Defense cooperative research and development project, or services as a fashion model of distinguished merit or ability.

• Petition first: the State Department's appointment service for India says that before you apply for a temporary worker visa you must have an approved Form I-129 from USCIS, filed by your prospective employer no earlier than 6 months before your employment start date, and that only your employer can sponsor you. The Embassy or Consulate needs your I-129 receipt number to verify the approval.
• Registration and cap: if the petition is subject to the cap, USCIS says the employer must first submit an electronic registration when the registration period opens, typically in March. The annual cap is 65,000 new statuses or visas each fiscal year. An additional 20,000 petitions for beneficiaries with a master's degree or higher from a U.S. institution of higher education are exempt from the cap, and so are workers petitioned for or employed at institutions of higher education, their affiliated or related nonprofits, and nonprofit or government research organizations.
• Timing: you can apply for the visa up to 90 days before the petition start date on your Form I-797, and you cannot enter the United States earlier than 10 days before that date, unless you are already working on an H-1B visa for the same petitioner.
• Fee: $205 for H visas, according to the appointment service for India, whose fee page lists application fees only. It also says that on individual H-1B petitions the petitioner pays the Fraud Prevention and Detection fee to USCIS when the petition is filed.
• Family: the appointment service recommends that a spouse and dependent children go for their visa interview at the same time as the principal applicant.
• Rules in motion: USCIS's H-1B page, last reviewed on 21 September 2026, describes a Presidential Proclamation of 19 September 2025 under which certain H-1B petitions filed on or after 21 September 2025, on behalf of beneficiaries who are outside the United States and do not have a valid H-1B visa, must be accompanied by a $100,000 payment. It also carries an alert that on 8 June 2026 a federal district court vacated agency guidance implementing that payment requirement, that the First Circuit denied a stay on 24 July 2026, and that DHS will comply with the order while it considers next steps and still plans to collect the payment if the order is lifted. These are matters for your employer's filing, so ask where they stand.

2. F-1 Student Visa

For a bona fide student who will pursue a full course of study at an established college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, elementary school or other academic institution, or in an accredited language training program, in the United States. By law an F-1 student has a residence in a foreign country that they have no intention of abandoning and seeks to enter the United States temporarily and solely to pursue the course of study (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(F)(i)).

• Form I-20: the appointment service for India describes it as the official form, issued by a certified school, that proves acceptance and carries the SEVIS ID and the information needed to pay the SEVIS fee. A student visa may be issued no more than 365 days before the start date on your I-20, and you may enter the United States only within 30 days of the start of the course of study stated on it.
• Fees: the $185 application fee and the $350 SEVIS fee (8 CFR 214.13(a)(1)), which is paid to DHS before the visa is issued (8 CFR 214.13(d)(1)). Study in the States says you must present proof of the SEVIS payment at your visa interview.
• Funding: sufficient funds to cover educational expenses are a requirement of the F-1 classification, and failing to meet it results in a 214(b) refusal (9 FAM 302.1-2(B)(4)).
• Work: the appointment service says full-time F-1 students may seek on-campus employment of up to 20 hours a week, and after the first year may apply for off-campus employment with authorization from USCIS. ICE says F-1 students can apply for 12 months of optional practical training at each education level, and for a further 24-month STEM OPT extension with a qualifying STEM degree, an employer that uses E-Verify and a completed Form I-983 training plan. ICE's page was last updated on 10 December 2024. A DHS proposed rule published on 8 October 2026 would add fees of $70,000 for initial OPT and $30,000 for any subsequent OPT for each F-1 student, with comments open until 9 November 2026. It is a proposal, not a rule in force.
• Period of admission: F-1 and J-1 students are still admitted for duration of status. A DHS final rule published in the Federal Register on 17 July 2026 would replace that with a fixed period of admission and an extension of stay procedure for F, J and I nonimmigrants. It was due to take effect on 15 September 2026, but on 14 September 2026 the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts postponed its effective date and barred DHS from implementing it while the case continues, and the government has appealed (court records read on 22 October 2026). Our student visa guide follows the case.
• Expedited appointments: the appointment service lists students and exchange visitors among the unforeseen travel needs that may qualify for an expedited appointment, depending on availability.

3. B1/B2 Visitor Visa

For temporary business or temporary pleasure travel, including tourism and visits to friends or relatives (22 CFR 41.31(b)). Our B1/B2 guide sets out what the law and the State Department say about who qualifies, the DS-160, the interview and the fees. The application fee is $185.

Before You Apply: Social Media Privacy

The US Embassy in India instructs everyone applying for an H-1B, H-3, H-4 (dependent of an H-1B or H-3), F, I, J, M, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T, TN, TD or U visa, among other categories it lists, to set the privacy setting on all social media accounts to public or open, to facilitate the vetting needed to establish identity and admissibility under US law.

The Application Process in India

Step 1: DS-160 & Payment

The Embassy says all nonimmigrant visa applicants follow the same application process unless it notes otherwise. Complete the DS-160 online at ceac.state.gov. The State Department's visa appointment service for India (ustraveldocs.com/in) says to create a profile on its applicant portal and choose the Schedule Appointment option, which leads to the payment options; its links to the portal point to usvisascheduling.com. The service says that although fees are listed in US dollars, payment must be made in local currency, and the options it lists are NEFT, UPI, a debit or credit card, or cash over the counter at the banks it names. A payment is valid for 365 days from the date of the receipt, and you must schedule your appointment within that period. If a payment seems to have failed, do not pay a second time: the service says the second payment will not be refunded and asks you to email its support center.

Step 2: Schedule Your Appointments

Most applicants need two appointments: one at a Visa Application Center, where fingerprints and a digital photograph are collected, and one at the US Embassy or Consulate for the interview. You must schedule the Visa Application Center appointment at least 2 business days before the interview. Appointments can only be scheduled online, and the Embassy does not accept requests by email. Family members who can prove their ties can apply together using the "Dependent" option; applicants with the same purpose who are not family must apply individually. The appointment service says third-country nationals who are legally present in India can apply at any of the five posts, and advises them to consider more than convenience, for example the consular district where they can show the strongest ties. The Embassy lists these posts:

• New Delhi (Embassy): Shantipath, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 110021.
• Mumbai: C-49, G-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051.
• Hyderabad: Survey No. 115/1, Financial District, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad 500032.
• Chennai: Gemini Circle, Chennai 600006.
• Kolkata: 5/1 Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata 700071.

The appointment service says visa processing time is typically seven to ten working days, that cases needing administrative processing take longer, and that wait times by post are published on the State Department's travel site. It lists unforeseen needs that may qualify for an expedited appointment, depending on availability: medical needs, a funeral or death, students or exchange visitors, a denied ESTA and urgent business travel. Its terms say you may not access the website through automated means, including bots, crawlers or scripts, and its scheduling page says browser plug-ins or extensions designed for robotic automation can trigger an "Access limitation" message that you clear by removing them and waiting at least 24 hours.

Step 3: The Interview

Unless personal appearance is waived, each applicant aged 14 to 79 must appear before a consular officer and be interviewed, and the officer decides the proper visa classification and your eligibility from what you say, your application and other relevant documentation (22 CFR 41.102(a)). The appointment service for India goes further: all applicants, including those under 14 or over 79, must appear in person for the interview, although applicants under 14 or over 79 do not have to attend the biometrics appointment. Missing the interview marks you as a "No Show", and you must pay a new visa fee and restart the application. Your passport must be valid for at least 15 calendar days from your appointment date, and the service advises that it be valid for six months beyond your intended stay.

The interview waiver has conditions. The appointment service lists, for example, renewing a fully valid B-1, B-2 or B-1/B-2 visa that is current or expired within the past 12 months, if you were at least 18 when it was issued, you apply in your consular district of residence, all ten fingerprints were taken when it was issued, the visa was not lost, stolen or revoked, and you have never been refused unless the refusal was overcome or waived. You must be in India for the submission, which is made at one of eleven document drop-off locations (New Delhi, Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kochi, Hyderabad and Kolkata). The service says to allow up to three weeks, that it cannot expedite the process, that eligibility does not guarantee issuance, and that an officer may call you for an interview.

Application Refused Under Section 221(g)

The appointment service for India says a refusal under section 221(g) means that essential information is missing from an application or that the application requires additional administrative processing. The consular officer tells you at the end of the interview, and either asks you to submit more information or explains that the case will undergo administrative processing. Documents the Embassy or Consulate requests are submitted at a CGI document collection office. The service says most administrative processing is resolved within 180 days of the interview, and that, except in emergencies, you or your representative should wait at least 180 days from the interview or the submission of supplemental documents, whichever is later, before asking about the status. You can check a case on the CEAC status page at ceac.state.gov.

What a Section 214(b) Refusal Means

Not qualifying for the visa class

The State Department's guidance for consular officers says 214(b) "does not simply mean that applicants must have 'ties' to their home country": a refusal means the applicant failed to qualify for the visa, which can happen by not convincing the officer that they are not an intending immigrant or by failing another requirement of the visa class (9 FAM 302.1-2(B)(4) and (B)(6)). The appointment service for India adds that a 214(b) refusal is not permanent, that you may reapply and will then have to show further evidence or changed circumstances, and that each application needs a new DS-160 and a new nonrefundable fee.

Funding, for students

The same guidance gives an example: failing to have sufficient funds to cover educational expenses results in a 214(b) refusal of a student visa, because sufficient funds are a requirement of the F-1 classification (9 FAM 302.1-2(B)(4)). Make sure the funding evidence you submit matches what you declare in your application.

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