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US visa slot availability in India, by consulate and visa type

US visa appointment availability in India changes minute to minute: consulates release interview dates in unannounced batches, and cancelled slots reopen around the clock — often overnight. This page maps how availability works at each of the five US consular posts and for each major visa category, and how to get alerted the instant a matching slot opens.

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How US visa slot availability actually works

All non-immigrant US visa interviews in India are booked through the official appointment system, which shows one thing: the first available date for your visa category at your assigned consulate, at the exact moment you look. There is no published release calendar. Fresh inventory appears in periodic batches, and individual dates reopen continuously as other applicants cancel or reschedule — which is why the portal can show “no appointments available” at breakfast and a date next month by lunch. Checking availability is therefore not a once-a-day task; the applicants who land early interviews are the ones who learn about an opening within minutes of it appearing.

Slot availability by US consulate in India

India has five US consular posts, each releasing its own interview inventory for its own consular district. Availability at one post tells you nothing about another — the same category can be months apart between two cities on the same day. Pick your post below for district coverage, local demand patterns, and alerts scoped to that consulate:

Slot availability by visa type

Availability must be read per category. B1/B2 visitor queues are the deepest because every applicant competes in a single open pool with no priority window. F1 students book inside appointment windows tied to their I-20 program start date, which concentrates demand into the May–August rush. H1B and H4 availability moves with petition and travel cycles, and J1 follows exchange-program seasons. Choose your category for category-specific availability context and alerts:

Why availability vanishes before you can book

A cancelled appointment goes back into the pool the moment it is released, and thousands of applicants are hunting the same dates. Desirable slots — earlier dates at high-demand posts like Hyderabad, Chennai, and Mumbai — are routinely rebooked within minutes, sometimes at 2 or 3 a.m. IST. Manual refreshing simply cannot keep pace with that. US Visa Slot Alert checks the official scheduling system as often as every 2 minutes, 24/7, across all five posts and 60+ visa categories, and emails you the instant an opening matches your consulate, category, and date range — you then book it yourself on the official portal. We never ask for your embassy or CGI Federal login, and we never book on your behalf.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a way to check US visa slot availability in real time?
The official appointment portal shows the first available date for your category and consulate whenever you log in — but availability changes minute to minute as applicants book, cancel, and reschedule. A monitoring service that re-checks the official system continuously (as often as every 2 minutes) and emails you the moment a slot opens is the practical way to track availability in real time without refreshing all day.
Which US consulate covers my state in India?
India is split into five consular districts: Mumbai covers western and central India, New Delhi covers the north, Chennai covers the south (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka), Hyderabad covers Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and Kolkata covers the east and northeast. Your interview is normally at the post assigned to your home state.
Why does slot availability differ so much between consulates?
Each post releases its own interview inventory, and demand is wildly uneven — Hyderabad and Chennai carry some of the world's highest F1 student volumes, Mumbai sees heavy B1/B2 and corporate traffic, while Kolkata is a smaller-volume post. The same visa category can show dates months apart at different consulates on the same day.
Do all visa types see the same slot availability?
No. Visitor (B1/B2) queues are usually the longest because every applicant competes in one open pool. Students (F1) get appointment windows tied to their program start date, and work-visa categories (H1B, H4, J1) fluctuate with petition cycles. Availability must be read per category, not for the consulate as a whole.

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