Ranked: Where U.S. Visa Interview Waits Are Longest

Longest and Shortest U.S. Visa Interview Wait Times by City

Getting an interview for a U.S. visitor visa can take anywhere from a few days to nearly two years, depending on where you apply.

This visualization uses September 17, 2026, data from the U.S. Department of State to compare the next available interview appointments for B1/B2 visas, which cover temporary business and tourism visits.

Where Are U.S. Visa Interview Waits the Longest?

Sydney and Toronto top the ranking at 21 and 20 months, respectively. Monrovia, Liberia, and Vancouver, Canada, are tied for third at 18 months.

The table below shows locations where applicants face waits of six months or longer.

City/Post	Country	B1/B2 Next Available Appointment
Sydney	Australia	21 Months
Toronto	Canada	20 Months
Monrovia	Liberia	18 Months
Vancouver	Canada	18 Months
Halifax	Canada	15 Months
Ottawa	Canada	15 Months
Quebec	Canada	15 Months
Calgary	Canada	14 Months
Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates	12.5 Months
Algiers	Algeria	12.5 Months
Islamabad	Pakistan	12.5 Months
Hyderabad	India	12 Months
Dubai	United Arab Emirates	11.5 Months
Mumbai (Bombay)	India	11.5 Months
New Delhi	India	10 Months
Lima	Peru	9 Months
San Jose	Costa Rica	9 Months
Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	9 Months
Chennai (Madras)	India	7.5 Months
Karachi	Pakistan	7.5 Months
Melbourne	Australia	7.5 Months
Bogota	Colombia	7 Months
Kolkata	India	6.5 Months
Abidjan	Cote d’Ivoire	6 Months
Baghdad	Iraq	6 Months
Erbil	Iraq	6 Months
Guadalajara	Mexico	6 Months

Canada’s prominence is particularly notable. Most Canadian citizens do not need a visitor visa to enter the United States, meaning many applicants at U.S. consulates in Canada are foreign nationals. The country also hosts a large population of international students and foreign workers, some of whom may require U.S. visitor visas.

India also faces widespread delays, with Hyderabad at 12 months, Mumbai at 11.5 months, and New Delhi at 10 months.

Staffing shortages and rising demand have made it harder for U.S. consulates to keep up with visa applications. According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, the number of officers working on nonimmigrant visas fell from 1,342 in 2024 to 904 in 2025, a decline of nearly one-third. Backlogs accumulated during COVID-19 have added to the pressure, contributing to longer interview waits.

Where Visa Interview Waits Are Four to Six Weeks

The following table covers consulates with waits of approximately four to six weeks:

City/Post	Country	B1/B2 Next Available Appointment
Auckland	New Zealand	1.5 Months
Bangkok	Thailand	1.5 Months
Belgrade	Serbia	1.5 Months
Brussels	Belgium	1.5 Months
Cape Town	South Africa	1.5 Months
Dhahran	Saudi Arabia	1.5 Months
Hermosillo	Mexico	1.5 Months
Jakarta	Indonesia	1.5 Months
Naha	Japan	1.5 Months
Osaka/Kobe	Japan	1.5 Months
Phnom Penh	Cambodia	1.5 Months
Santiago	Chile	1.5 Months
Suva	Fiji	1.5 Months
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	1.5 Months
Tijuana	Mexico	1.5 Months
Almaty	Kazakhstan	1 Month
Amman	Jordan	1 Month
Amsterdam	Netherlands	1 Month
Astana	Kazakhstan	1 Month
Belfast	United Kingdom	1 Month
Berlin	Germany	1 Month
Brasilia	Brazil	1 Month
Budapest	Hungary	1 Month
Cairo	Egypt	1 Month
Guatemala City	Guatemala	1 Month
Johannesburg	South Africa	1 Month
Kigali	Rwanda	1 Month
Kingston	Jamaica	1 Month
Koror	Palau	1 Month
Kuwait	Kuwait	1 Month
Lisbon	Portugal	1 Month
Lome	Togo	1 Month
London	United Kingdom	1 Month
Nairobi	Kenya	1 Month
Nassau	Bahamas	1 Month
Panama City	Panama	1 Month
Quito	Ecuador	1 Month
Sao Paulo	Brazil	1 Month
Stockholm	Sweden	1 Month
Auckland	New Zealand	1.5 Months
Bangkok	Thailand	1.5 Months
Belgrade	Serbia	1.5 Months
Brussels	Belgium	1.5 Months
Cape Town	South Africa	1.5 Months
Dhahran	Saudi Arabia	1.5 Months
Hermosillo	Mexico	1.5 Months
Jakarta	Indonesia	1.5 Months
Naha	Japan	1.5 Months
Osaka/Kobe	Japan	1.5 Months
Phnom Penh	Cambodia	1.5 Months
Santiago	Chile	1.5 Months
Suva	Fiji	1.5 Months
Tashkent	Uzbekistan	1.5 Months
Tijuana	Mexico	1.5 Months
Almaty	Kazakhstan	1 Month
Amman	Jordan	1 Month
Amsterdam	Netherlands	1 Month
Astana	Kazakhstan	1 Month
Belfast	United Kingdom	1 Month
Berlin	Germany	1 Month
Brasilia	Brazil	1 Month
Budapest	Hungary	1 Month
Cairo	Egypt	1 Month
Guatemala City	Guatemala	1 Month
Johannesburg	South Africa	1 Month
Kigali	Rwanda	1 Month
Kingston	Jamaica	1 Month
Koror	Palau	1 Month
Kuwait	Kuwait	1 Month
Lisbon	Portugal	1 Month
Lome	Togo	1 Month
London	United Kingdom	1 Month
Nairobi	Kenya	1 Month
Nassau	Bahamas	1 Month
Panama City	Panama	1 Month
Quito	Ecuador	1 Month
Sao Paulo	Brazil	1 Month
Stockholm	Sweden	1 Month

Cities including Auckland, Bangkok, and Brussels offer interviews in around 1.5 months, contrasting sharply with longer queues elsewhere.

The gap between consulates reflects differences in application volumes and staffing capacity. The GAO found that India handled approximately 21,400 nonimmigrant visa applications per consular officer in 2025, compared with around 10,100 in China. These figures illustrate the differing workloads faced by U.S. consulates, although they do not directly explain every city’s interview wait time.

Where Are Visa Interviews Available in 15 Days?

The following locations offer interview appointments within approximately 15 days.

City/Post	Country	B1/B2 Next Available Appointment
Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	0.5 Month
Ashgabat	Turkmenistan	< 0.5 Month
Asuncion	Paraguay	< 0.5 Month
Athens	Greece	< 0.5 Month
Baku	Azerbaijan	< 0.5 Month
Bandar Seri Begawan	Brunei	< 0.5 Month
Belmopan	Belize	< 0.5 Month
Bishkek	Kyrgyzstan	< 0.5 Month
Bratislava	Slovakia	< 0.5 Month
Bridgetown	Barbados	< 0.5 Month
Bucharest	Romania	< 0.5 Month
Buenos Aires	Argentina	< 0.5 Month
Chisinau	Moldova	< 0.5 Month
Copenhagen	Denmark	< 0.5 Month
Curacao	Curaçao	< 0.5 Month
Dakar	Senegal	< 0.5 Month
Dhaka	Bangladesh	< 0.5 Month
Dili	Timor-Leste	< 0.5 Month
Djibouti	Djibouti	< 0.5 Month
Dublin	Ireland	< 0.5 Month
Dushanbe	Tajikistan	< 0.5 Month
Fukuoka	Japan	< 0.5 Month
Hamilton	Bermuda	< 0.5 Month
Hanoi	Vietnam	< 0.5 Month
Helsinki	Finland	< 0.5 Month
Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	< 0.5 Month
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	< 0.5 Month
Jeddah	Saudi Arabia	< 0.5 Month
Kathmandu	Nepal	< 0.5 Month
Kolonia	Micronesia	< 0.5 Month
Krakow	Poland	< 0.5 Month
Kuala Lumpur	Malaysia	< 0.5 Month
La Paz	Bolivia	< 0.5 Month
Lagos	Nigeria	< 0.5 Month
Libreville	Gabon	< 0.5 Month
Ljubljana	Slovenia	< 0.5 Month
Luanda	Angola	< 0.5 Month
Luxembourg	Luxembourg	< 0.5 Month
Madrid	Spain	< 0.5 Month
Majuro	Marshall Islands	< 0.5 Month
Malabo	Equatorial Guinea	< 0.5 Month
Managua	Nicaragua	< 0.5 Month
Manama	Bahrain	< 0.5 Month
Manila	Philippines	< 0.5 Month
Montevideo	Uruguay	< 0.5 Month
Munich	Germany	< 0.5 Month
Nicosia	Cyprus	< 0.5 Month
Nogales	Mexico	< 0.5 Month
Oslo	Norway	< 0.5 Month
Paramaribo	Suriname	< 0.5 Month
Paris	France	< 0.5 Month
Perth	Australia	< 0.5 Month
Podgorica	Montenegro	< 0.5 Month
Port Louis	Mauritius	< 0.5 Month
Port Moresby	Papua New Guinea	< 0.5 Month
Port Of Spain	Trinidad and Tobago	< 0.5 Month
Prague	Czechia	< 0.5 Month
Praia	Cabo Verde	< 0.5 Month
Pristina	Kosovo	< 0.5 Month
Rangoon	Myanmar	< 0.5 Month
Recife	Brazil	< 0.5 Month
Reykjavik	Iceland	< 0.5 Month
Riga	Latvia	< 0.5 Month
Rio De Janeiro	Brazil	< 0.5 Month
San Salvador	El Salvador	< 0.5 Month
Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	< 0.5 Month
Seoul	South Korea	< 0.5 Month
Shenyang	China	< 0.5 Month
Singapore	Singapore	< 0.5 Month
Skopje	North Macedonia	< 0.5 Month
Sofia	Bulgaria	< 0.5 Month
Surabaya	Indonesia	< 0.5 Month
Taipei	Taiwan	< 0.5 Month
Tallinn	Estonia	< 0.5 Month
Tbilisi	Georgia	< 0.5 Month
Tegucigalpa	Honduras	< 0.5 Month
Tirana	Albania	< 0.5 Month
Ulaanbaatar	Mongolia	< 0.5 Month
Valletta	Malta	< 0.5 Month
Vienna	Austria	< 0.5 Month
Vientiane	Laos	< 0.5 Month
Vilnius	Lithuania	< 0.5 Month
Warsaw	Poland	< 0.5 Month
Yaounde	Cameroon	< 0.5 Month
Yerevan	Armenia	< 0.5 Month
Zagreb	Croatia	< 0.5 Month

Australia offers one of the clearest examples of how sharply appointment availability can differ within the same country. While Sydney has a 21-month wait, Melbourne’s is 7.5 months and Perth’s is under two weeks.

Major Asian cities, including Manila, Seoul, Hanoi, and Singapore, also have exceptionally short waits. However, applicants cannot necessarily avoid backlogs by booking abroad. State Department guidance generally directs applicants to schedule interviews in their country of nationality or residence.

These figures represent the next available interview appointments, not the total time required to obtain a visa. Wait times can change as consulates release new appointment slots, and additional administrative processing may be required after an interview.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Explore another dimension of global travel access in Ranked: The World’s Most Powerful Passports in 2026 on the Voronoi app.

• Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-where-u-s-visa-interview-waits-are-longest/