B1/B2 appointment waits stretch up to nine months; the Indian AI Startups founder says O-1 rejections are rising, making client meetings and deal-making harder
Indian artificial intelligence founders trying to plant a flag in the United States say immigration has become a business risk in its own right. Stricter visa procedures are slowing down travel and relocation plans, with entrepreneurs reporting delays on short-term business visas and tougher outcomes on talent visas.
The drag is showing up in missed client meetings and slower sales cycles, painful for young companies racing the clock on product and revenue.
What’s changed?
Founders describe a more demanding environment under the Trump administration, with tighter rules complicating access and lengthening processes. That includes longer appointment queues for B1/B2 visas, the essential, short-stay entry route for exploratory trips, investor meetings, and early customer pilots.
The numbers founders are quoting
Appointment wait times in India for B1/B2 visas currently run from roughly three-and-a-half to nine months, according to startup executives navigating the system this quarter. That kind of lag can push crucial enterprise deal cycles out by a quarter or more, time most AI startups don’t have.
Separately, entrepreneurs seeking the O-1 “extraordinary ability” visa are flagging higher rejection rates, an anxiety point for technical founders who split their year between India and the US to be close to customers and partners.
On-ground voices
LatentForce cofounder Aravind Jayendran says a US presence is “critical” over the next three months for client meetings, but the visa queue has become yet another hurdle on top of the usual startup grind. “As a startup, we are already facing multiple challenges and this is yet another that we need to deal with now,” he said.
Qodex founder Siddhant Mohan, who already holds a B1/B2 visa and spends close to half the year in the US, has applied for an O-1 but points to a rise in rejections across the category.
Why it matters for AI startups?
For enterprise AI, selling still happens in person. Founders and investors stress that the US remains the primary market for many Indian AI products, and key deals tend to close only after face-to-face time with customers. As one founder put it: “There is a limit as to how much we can do online. For example, we have met all our customers in person and then closed the deal.”
The immediate playbook
- Prioritise mission-critical travel: Team leads are triaging who absolutely needs to be on the ground, given B1/B2 queues.
- Strengthen O-1 dossiers: Founders are tightening evidence packs amid reports of tougher reviews.
- Build hybrid sales motions: Until approvals come through, teams are staggering virtual pilots with on-site closings where possible, acknowledging that face time often seals the deal.
Visa friction is becoming a make-or-break operational variable for Indian AI companies eyeing the US. With appointment wait times stretching into months and O-1 approvals becoming increasingly difficult to secure, the cost of delay isn’t just travel; it’s momentum.
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