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

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

Key Takeaways:

• Sydney has the longest listed wait for a U.S. visitor visa interview at 21 months, compared with under two weeks in Perth.

• Six Canadian cities are among the 20 longest waits, including Toronto (20 months) and Vancouver (18 months).

• Average global visitor visa interview waits rose from 26 days in 2019 to 201 days in 2025, even as visa processing surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

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/PostCountryB1/B2 Next Available Appointment

Sydney Australia21 Months

Toronto Canada20 Months

Monrovia Liberia18 Months

Vancouver Canada18 Months

Halifax Canada15 Months

Ottawa Canada15 Months

Quebec Canada15 Months

Calgary Canada14 Months

Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates12.5 Months

Algiers Algeria12.5 Months

Islamabad Pakistan12.5 Months

Hyderabad India12 Months

Dubai United Arab Emirates11.5 Months

Mumbai (Bombay) India11.5 Months

New Delhi India10 Months

Lima Peru9 Months

San Jose Costa Rica9 Months

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic9 Months

Chennai (Madras) India7.5 Months

Karachi Pakistan7.5 Months

Melbourne Australia7.5 Months

Bogota Colombia7 Months

Kolkata India6.5 Months

Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire6 Months

Baghdad Iraq6 Months

Erbil Iraq6 Months

Guadalajara Mexico6 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/PostCountryB1/B2 Next Available Appointment

Auckland New Zealand1.5 Months

Bangkok Thailand1.5 Months

Belgrade Serbia1.5 Months

Brussels Belgium1.5 Months

Cape Town South Africa1.5 Months

Dhahran Saudi Arabia1.5 Months

Hermosillo Mexico1.5 Months

Jakarta Indonesia1.5 Months

Naha Japan1.5 Months

Osaka/Kobe Japan1.5 Months

Phnom Penh Cambodia1.5 Months

Santiago Chile1.5 Months

Suva Fiji1.5 Months

Tashkent Uzbekistan1.5 Months

Tijuana Mexico1.5 Months

Almaty Kazakhstan1 Month

Amman Jordan1 Month

Amsterdam Netherlands1 Month

Astana Kazakhstan1 Month

Belfast United Kingdom1 Month

Berlin Germany1 Month

Brasilia Brazil1 Month

Budapest Hungary1 Month

Cairo Egypt1 Month

Guatemala City Guatemala1 Month

Johannesburg South Africa1 Month

Kigali Rwanda1 Month

Kingston Jamaica1 Month

Koror Palau1 Month

Kuwait Kuwait1 Month

Lisbon Portugal1 Month

Lome Togo1 Month

London United Kingdom1 Month

Nairobi Kenya1 Month

Nassau Bahamas1 Month

Panama City Panama1 Month

Quito Ecuador1 Month

Sao Paulo Brazil1 Month

Stockholm Sweden1 Month

Auckland New Zealand1.5 Months

Bangkok Thailand1.5 Months

Belgrade Serbia1.5 Months

Brussels Belgium1.5 Months

Cape Town South Africa1.5 Months

Dhahran Saudi Arabia1.5 Months

Hermosillo Mexico1.5 Months

Jakarta Indonesia1.5 Months

Naha Japan1.5 Months

Osaka/Kobe Japan1.5 Months

Phnom Penh Cambodia1.5 Months

Santiago Chile1.5 Months

Suva Fiji1.5 Months

Tashkent Uzbekistan1.5 Months

Tijuana Mexico1.5 Months

Almaty Kazakhstan1 Month

Amman Jordan1 Month

Amsterdam Netherlands1 Month

Astana Kazakhstan1 Month

Belfast United Kingdom1 Month

Berlin Germany1 Month

Brasilia Brazil1 Month

Budapest Hungary1 Month

Cairo Egypt1 Month

Guatemala City Guatemala1 Month

Johannesburg South Africa1 Month

Kigali Rwanda1 Month

Kingston Jamaica1 Month

Koror Palau1 Month

Kuwait Kuwait1 Month

Lisbon Portugal1 Month

Lome Togo1 Month

London United Kingdom1 Month

Nairobi Kenya1 Month

Nassau Bahamas1 Month

Panama City Panama1 Month

Quito Ecuador1 Month

Sao Paulo Brazil1 Month

Stockholm Sweden1 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/PostCountryB1/B2 Next Available Appointment

Riyadh Saudi Arabia0.5 Month

Ashgabat Turkmenistan

Asuncion Paraguay

Athens Greece

Baku Azerbaijan

Bandar Seri Begawan Brunei

Belmopan Belize

Bishkek Kyrgyzstan

Bratislava Slovakia

Bridgetown Barbados

Bucharest Romania

Buenos Aires Argentina

Chisinau Moldova

Copenhagen Denmark

Curacao Curaçao

Dakar Senegal

Dhaka Bangladesh

Dili Timor-Leste

Djibouti Djibouti

Dublin Ireland

Dushanbe Tajikistan

Fukuoka Japan

Hamilton Bermuda

Hanoi Vietnam

Helsinki Finland

Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

Hong Kong Hong Kong

Jeddah Saudi Arabia

Kathmandu Nepal

Kolonia Micronesia

Krakow Poland

Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

La Paz Bolivia

Lagos Nigeria

Libreville Gabon

Ljubljana Slovenia

Luanda Angola

Luxembourg Luxembourg

Madrid Spain

Majuro Marshall Islands

Malabo Equatorial Guinea

Managua Nicaragua

Manama Bahrain

Manila Philippines

Montevideo Uruguay

Munich Germany

Nicosia Cyprus

Nogales Mexico

Oslo Norway

Paramaribo Suriname

Paris France

Perth Australia

Podgorica Montenegro

Port Louis Mauritius

Port Moresby Papua New Guinea

Port Of Spain Trinidad and Tobago

Prague Czechia

Praia Cabo Verde

Pristina Kosovo

Rangoon Myanmar

Recife Brazil

Reykjavik Iceland

Riga Latvia

Rio De Janeiro Brazil

San Salvador El Salvador

Sarajevo Bosnia and Herzegovina

Seoul South Korea

Shenyang China

Singapore Singapore

Skopje North Macedonia

Sofia Bulgaria

Surabaya Indonesia

Taipei Taiwan

Tallinn Estonia

Tbilisi Georgia

Tegucigalpa Honduras

Tirana Albania

Ulaanbaatar Mongolia

Valletta Malta

Vienna Austria

Vientiane Laos

Vilnius Lithuania

Warsaw Poland

Yaounde Cameroon

Yerevan Armenia

Zagreb Croatia

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/