India has taken up with the United States the issue of prolonged delays and disruptions faced by Indian nationals in scheduling and rescheduling visa appointments, amid recent changes to US visa screening processes, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government had received several representations from Indian citizens stranded for extended periods due to difficulties in securing consular appointments, resulting in hardship to families, children’s education and personal lives.

“While visa-related issues pertain to the sovereign domain of any country, we have flagged these issues and the concerns of our nationals to the US side, both here in New Delhi and in Washington DC. We hope that these delays and disruptions will be addressed,” Jaiswal said.

He noted that the Indian government remains actively engaged with US authorities to address and minimise the impact of the disruptions on Indian nationals.

The remarks come against the backdrop of significant changes announced by the US to its H-1B and H-4 visa regimes. From December 15, the US has expanded its review processes for specialty occupation temporary H-1B visa applicants, a move that also applies to dependents covered under the H-4 category. The enhanced scrutiny, which includes expanded online presence reviews, is applicable globally across all countries.

US authorities have said the expanded vetting is part of standard visa screening and is aimed at addressing abuse and misuse of the H-1B programme, while continuing to allow American companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers. However, applicants have been cautioned to anticipate longer processing times.

Indian professionals account for a substantial majority of H-1B visa holders, making recent policy shifts particularly consequential for India. The issue has also gained prominence following Washington’s decision earlier this week to scrap the random lottery system for H-1B visas and replace it with a weighted selection process favouring higher-paid and higher-skilled applicants.

Jaiswal underlined that while the US measures are global in nature, India is closely monitoring their impact on its citizens. “On our side, the government of India remains engaged with the US side to address the concerns and reduce the hardships faced by our nationals,” he said.