New regulations stipulate that US visa applicants must now apply for their visas within their country of citizenship or legal residency, except in locations where the US does not offer standard visa services. This will prevent Indian citizens from applying for B1 (business) and B2 (tourist) visas in other countries to expedite their application process, a strategy often employed when the wait times in India were excessively long, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Non-immigrant visas include visas for tourists, business travelers, students, temporary workers, and fiancés of US citizens. The US State Department has declared that this rule is worldwide and immediately effective. Presently, B1/B2 visa interview wait times in India are considerable: roughly 3.5 months in Hyderabad and Mumbai, 4.5 months in Delhi, 5 months in Kolkata, and 9 months in Chennai.