Immigration lawyer Emily Newman said that even if H-1B stamping slots open up in India, people who are in the US should not take the risk of traveling outside the US.
Amid reports of H-1B visa stamping slots becoming randomly available in India, immigration lawyer Emily Newman said that people who are currently in the US are not advised to book appointments in India as they must now travel out of India. Those who are already in India, stranded for months as all slots were halted due to a major rescheduling of dates in December 2025, should try their best to book a slot and get their passports stamped. But those who are in the US do not need a visa stamp for anything and should not travel outside. Newman said the US government is doing everything it can to stop immigrants from coming to the US, and getting an appointment is the easiest part of the process. There is no guarantee that the slot you booked will not be canceled, nor will your H-1B visa be discreetly canceled while you are out of the country. When thousands of Indians came to India for holidays last December, they were left stranded in their homes. Visa holders generally book a visa appointment upon arrival home, as stamping is now mandatory in visa holders’ home countries. In December, Consulates in India canceled and rescheduled all interviews and postponed them to May, June 2026. Without the stamp, they cannot re-enter the US, so they were forced to stay in India, biding their time. Some companies allowed them to work from India but there is still uncertainty about the future of these H-1B visa holders. There were no new dates available for the last three months, but some slots opened up in the last few weeks, leading to a huge rush for visa holders.
What is H-1B visa stamping? Why is it needed?
A visa stamp is the sticker on your passport that will allow you to enter the US. Its validity for Indians is generally three years. This is not work authorization and is not required for anything inside the US. Form I-797 controls how long you can live and work in the US on an H-1B visa. Your visa stamp may expire while you are in the US, but you can continue to work as long as your I-797 is valid. New stamping is required only for re-entering the country and also for entering the country for the first time.