US immigrant visa appointment pause clouds Indians' travel plans

The latest action only applies to those who have been approved for green cards or lawful permanent resident status

The US government’s move to pause immigrant visa appointments globally is adding to uncertainty around travel to the country. Industry executives expect some Indian travellers to defer trips or opt for alternative destinations, even as India-US traffic has already begun to weaken. Industry experts also said this could affect the airline industry.

 

India is an important source market for the US, with more than 2.06 million Indian residents travelling to the country in 2025, making it the second-largest overseas source market. However, outbound travel to the US has already declined this year. Around 966,000 Indians travelled to the US between January and June 2026, down over 10 per cent from 1.08 million during the same period last year, according to tourism ministry data.

  

Ministry data also showed that the US ranked third by departure volumes in 2024, with 2.14 million departures, up from 2.05 million in 2023. Leisure, diaspora, business and education were among the top categories of travellers.

 

Travel industry executives said Indians planning trips to the US could become more cautious amid confusion over the scope of the latest measures.

 

“One important clarification is that the reported US action is not a blanket cancellation of all US tourist visas. It pertains to those who are primarily seeking immigration; still the impression goes that the US is cancelling all visas and this is most likely to cause deferred bookings,” said Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the umbrella body for industry associations across the country’s travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.

 

The latest US action applies specifically to individuals who have already been approved for green cards or lawful permanent resident status. It does not cover employees looking to move to the country on non-immigrant visas such as H-1B or L-1, immigration attorneys said.

 

Bharatt Malik, senior vice-president, flights and hotels business, Yatra Online Ltd, said, “The immediate impact will likely be a slowdown in US-bound travel bookings. So, destination substitution is likely. Travelers with planned international holidays facing uncertainty around the U.S. will likely consider regions with easier visa processes, such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe, depending on connectivity and airfare. Domestic destinations are also expected to benefit, particularly among leisure travelers with flexible plans.”

 

However, Manjari Singhal, chief growth and business officer at Flipkart-owned Cleartrip, said, “It is still early to assess the impact of this development on travel demand, and any impact on travel behaviour is unlikely to be immediate.” She pointed to domestic destinations recording double-digit growth in bookings, while Southeast and Central Asian destinations had seen increased demand over the past couple of years.

 

Executives said travellers might increasingly seek refundable air tickets and flexible hotel bookings, while families travelling for holidays or to visit relatives and business travellers could exercise greater caution. Students planning to pursue higher education in the US could also be affected if uncertainty persists.

 

Southeast Asian countries and domestic destinations could emerge as beneficiaries if some US-bound leisure demand is diverted.

 

“Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Sri Lanka are particularly well placed because of shorter flying times, comparatively affordable packages and easier visa processes. Domestic destinations could pick up some of the displaced demand, particularly premium leisure, family holidays, weddings, MICE and experiential travel,” Mehra added. Several Southeast Asian markets have also eased their visa norms to attract travellers.

 

The uncertainty could also add pressure to India-US air travel, which has already been significantly disrupted by geopolitical developments since early 2025.

 

The timing is important for airlines, as India-US traffic typically picks up from September, with students travelling for the academic year. The November-December period also sees demand from the Indian diaspora travelling home for Christmas and New Year, as well as foreign tourists travelling to India, a senior airline executive said.

 

Airlines were operating 42 non-stop flights a week between India and the US in August 2026, compared with 97 a week in August 2025, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. Weekly seat capacity has fallen 58.1 per cent to 12,096 from 28,860 a year earlier.

 

The decline is entirely attributable to Air India, whose weekly flights have fallen to 14 from 69 a year earlier. American Airlines and United Airlines continue to operate 14 weekly flights each.

 

The US State Department said on Tuesday that it had launched a global training initiative at all its embassies and consulates and that appointments for visa services would be adjusted to accommodate the training. The exercise is aimed at assessing whether an applicant may be deemed a “public charge”.

 

Under US immigration law, a public-charge risk refers to someone likely to become primarily dependent on the government for financial support.

 

“If an individual is found likely to become a public charge, they may be denied an immigrant visa or green card. This assessment considers factors such as age, health, income, assets, family size, and financial affidavits submitted by the sponsoring petitioner,” said Poorvi Chothani, managing partner of immigration law firm LawQuest.

 

Immigration attorneys said the move had created another layer of uncertainty among aspiring legal immigrants.

 

Rajiv Khanna, managing attorney at the Law Office of Rajiv Khanna in Virginia, said the current ambit of the rule was wide and could allow a visa or adjudication officer to deny a case based on factors that were not covered as broadly under previous rules.

 

“Now they have expanded the reasons and training becomes a subsidiary question as anything is ok as far as this administration is concerned and the deepest impact they have had is introducing uncertainty. We have clients who went to green card interviews and were handed letters saying those were cancelled. This is absolutely careless of US immigration officers and appears to be a deliberate design to bring in uncertainty, fear and outright confusion,” he added.

 

While students and technology-sector employees are outside the ambit of the latest immigrant visa measure, US embassies and consulates in India are currently making few interview slots available across non-immigrant visa categories, affecting applicants for H, F, B, L and other visas.

 

This comes as the US government has taken a series of measures to tighten the skilled-immigration process. Eligible H-1B registrations fell 38.5 per cent to 211,600 for FY27 from 343,981 a year earlier, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Information technology companies such as TCS, Infosys and Cognizant have filed for extensions of H-1B visas for on-site employees, while transfer petitions have increased.

 

Lawyers said the government had not announced specific dates for either the start or the anticipated conclusion of the public-charge training.

 

“The state department’s own guidance simply advises affected applicants to rely on notices or emails issued for their individual cases rather than any general timeline. This unfortunately leaves applicants and attorneys in a difficult position with very little to plan around,” Chothani said.