A recent announcement by the US State Department to launch a pilot program later this year offering US visa renewal options for H-1B and L-1 workers, who are currently required to travelling abroad; is welcomed by thousands of Indian professionals. H-1B visas are generally granted for six years after which you must apply for an extension. L-1 visa extensions must also be applied for and are usually granted in increments of two years at a time.
Julie Stufft, deputy assistant secretary for visa services at the US Bureau of Consular Affairs, told Bloomberg Law in a recent exclusive interview: “During the pandemic we have all seen how difficult it was for these people to return to their country of origin. ‘origin and often not being able to get visa appointments to return to their home, the United States. That’s what we’re trying to address initially with this.
Since the Covid pandemic, Indians, who obtain the largest number of H-1B work visas in the US, continue to face large processing backlogs from US Citizenship and Immigration Services. This is due to the current rule that H-1 and L-1 visa holders, traveling to India, must have their passports stamped at the US Embassy in Delhi or consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta or Mumbai, before traveling back to the United States. Being able to get visas stamped in the US prior to travel will ease the stress of visa renewals for H-1 and L-1 holders with US employment and reduce the workload for US consular offices in India .
Great benefit for Indians on H-1B visas
While the exact number of Indians who will benefit from this new pilot program is not known; there will surely be thousands. The move is likely to benefit more than 500,000 Indian H-1B visa holders when it is rolled out in full, to include dependents, and not just at a pilot level, according to conservative estimates by immigration lawyers.
“This will be of immense benefit to those working in the United States, who have been dealing with consulate delays for years that have limited legitimate travel needs. In the current situation, enterprises are unable to send workers overseas for important business meetings for fear of failing to obtain a timely visa to return to work in the United States. Families had to give up going home to attend important events because they couldn’t get a visa interview or dropbox appointment,” said Emily Neumann, managing partner at law firm Reddy & Neumann, a law firm with based in Houston focused on employment-based immigration to the United States the time of India.
He added that many professionals who traveled for emergencies were stranded in India waiting for an appointment to become available even though they were on the visa waiver program (aka dropbox). “Now, these visa holders will be able to efficiently renew their visas within the United States so they can always have a valid visa stamped in their passports. This will facilitate travel for both business and personal needs, enabling business to be completed and families to be taken care of,” she added.
Neha Mahajan, an advocate for immigration reform and head of business development at law firm Chugh LLP, sees the announcement of the U.S. visa renewal pilot program (in the US) as a big relief. “The State Department indicated the reintroduction of automatic visa revalidation (AVR) in the United States last year, but in the absence of a definite timeline, no one knew it would be so fast. We are all aware of how slowly things move in the realm of immigration,” she told Times of India.
Mahajan and his family have faced huge challenges due to the rule requiring H-1B visa stamping in India. “My husband, Ashu Mahajan, was stranded in India in April 2021 when suddenly the US consulates were closed due to a spike in Covid numbers. He couldn’t go back to the US because he didn’t have a valid visa. Thanks to the support we received from the media and from Senator Bob Menendez, he was able to find an appointment date and come back,” he said. If automatic visa revalidation was available at that time, he and at least a few thousands like him would not have been stranded for months in their home country, jeopardizing their jobs, visa statuses and lives in the United States, Mahajan added.
U.S. visa renewals were, in fact, a reality until it was blocked by the state department in 2004 citing interview and biometric requirements that went into effect after 9/11. “This program, closed in 2004, was very popular and affordable. Applicants could send their passports to the State Department in St Louis, Missouri and get their visa renewed. The need for this program became very apparent during the Covid pandemic when consulates closed and people were unable to travel because their visas had expired. We know of numerous cases where our clients were unable to travel even when immediate family members passed away in 2021,” says Manjunath Gokare, an immigration attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia. He adds that immigration attorneys they are excited to hear that the State Department is relaunching this program at a pilot level and hope that the full rollout will also be rolled out soon.
The uncertainty remains on the chronology
Though there is much excitement and relief among Indian professionals working in the US on temporary work visas over this announcement; questions remain about how soon the full rollout will happen and they will benefit from it. “It is true that the State Department has declared ‘later this year.’ The meaning of “later” is totally unknown as of now, but the one thing that impacted foreign citizens in the United States should keep in mind is that the state department must first create this consular visa office in Washington , DC and have that infrastructure in place before the pilot program officially launches, says Min Kim, a partner and attorney in the Edison office of law firm Chugh LLP. The good news is that there doesn’t need to be any official change in US immigration law for the state department to start this program. “But just because the law doesn’t need to be changed doesn’t mean the agency is currently ready to introduce something similar. They need to hire experienced staff, put protocols in place, and basically build a consular office from scratch in Washington, DC before any discussions take place in terms of an actual launch date for the program. It will take some time,” Kim warns.
But while the timeline is still unclear on when the program will launch, there is optimism. “At the moment there are no details. When the option was discussed earlier, the State Department simply indicated that it was considering the idea. This new report suggests that we have made progress towards effective implementation of the programme. The government tends to stall for new efforts, so while the report suggests it could be implemented later this year, that could mean as late as December or even into next year,” says Neumann. Gokare estimates the pilot project could begin around fall 2023 as a consular division needs to be launched in Washington DC, before it can be launched.
It is also unclear whether the program will initially target only major H-1 and L-1 visa applicants or their dependents on H-4 and L-2 visas as well. “Considering that what is slated to launch is a pilot program that by definition seeks to limit the scope of the U.S. visa processing reinstatement, I personally would be skeptical that the initial rollout would include dependents,” he said. stated Kim. The State Department is looking into whether this change is possible at this time and therefore will likely receive only a limited number of such “test” cases for now with the intent that, if successful, the reintroduction of data processing US visas will be phased over time, he added.
“Automatic intra-state visa renewal would save H-1 and L-1 visa holders from months of needless agony. Until this program is implemented in its full capacity, births, weddings, funerals and other important life occasions will be missed; visa holders will not be able to go back to caring for the sick parent and agents who block the appointment booking system to charge a large amount to sell dates to visa holders would continue to thrive as visa holders continue to live a life in agony and uncertainty,” summarizes Mahajan.
Julie Stufft, deputy assistant secretary for visa services at the US Bureau of Consular Affairs, told Bloomberg Law in a recent exclusive interview: “During the pandemic we have all seen how difficult it was for these people to return to their country of origin. ‘origin and often not being able to get visa appointments to return to their home, the United States. That’s what we’re trying to address initially with this.
Since the Covid pandemic, Indians, who obtain the largest number of H-1B work visas in the US, continue to face large processing backlogs from US Citizenship and Immigration Services. This is due to the current rule that H-1 and L-1 visa holders, traveling to India, must have their passports stamped at the US Embassy in Delhi or consulates in Chennai, Hyderabad, Calcutta or Mumbai, before traveling back to the United States. Being able to get visas stamped in the US prior to travel will ease the stress of visa renewals for H-1 and L-1 holders with US employment and reduce the workload for US consular offices in India .
Great benefit for Indians on H-1B visas
While the exact number of Indians who will benefit from this new pilot program is not known; there will surely be thousands. The move is likely to benefit more than 500,000 Indian H-1B visa holders when it is rolled out in full, to include dependents, and not just at a pilot level, according to conservative estimates by immigration lawyers.
“This will be of immense benefit to those working in the United States, who have been dealing with consulate delays for years that have limited legitimate travel needs. In the current situation, enterprises are unable to send workers overseas for important business meetings for fear of failing to obtain a timely visa to return to work in the United States. Families had to give up going home to attend important events because they couldn’t get a visa interview or dropbox appointment,” said Emily Neumann, managing partner at law firm Reddy & Neumann, a law firm with based in Houston focused on employment-based immigration to the United States the time of India.
He added that many professionals who traveled for emergencies were stranded in India waiting for an appointment to become available even though they were on the visa waiver program (aka dropbox). “Now, these visa holders will be able to efficiently renew their visas within the United States so they can always have a valid visa stamped in their passports. This will facilitate travel for both business and personal needs, enabling business to be completed and families to be taken care of,” she added.
Neha Mahajan, an advocate for immigration reform and head of business development at law firm Chugh LLP, sees the announcement of the U.S. visa renewal pilot program (in the US) as a big relief. “The State Department indicated the reintroduction of automatic visa revalidation (AVR) in the United States last year, but in the absence of a definite timeline, no one knew it would be so fast. We are all aware of how slowly things move in the realm of immigration,” she told Times of India.
Mahajan and his family have faced huge challenges due to the rule requiring H-1B visa stamping in India. “My husband, Ashu Mahajan, was stranded in India in April 2021 when suddenly the US consulates were closed due to a spike in Covid numbers. He couldn’t go back to the US because he didn’t have a valid visa. Thanks to the support we received from the media and from Senator Bob Menendez, he was able to find an appointment date and come back,” he said. If automatic visa revalidation was available at that time, he and at least a few thousands like him would not have been stranded for months in their home country, jeopardizing their jobs, visa statuses and lives in the United States, Mahajan added.
U.S. visa renewals were, in fact, a reality until it was blocked by the state department in 2004 citing interview and biometric requirements that went into effect after 9/11. “This program, closed in 2004, was very popular and affordable. Applicants could send their passports to the State Department in St Louis, Missouri and get their visa renewed. The need for this program became very apparent during the Covid pandemic when consulates closed and people were unable to travel because their visas had expired. We know of numerous cases where our clients were unable to travel even when immediate family members passed away in 2021,” says Manjunath Gokare, an immigration attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia. He adds that immigration attorneys they are excited to hear that the State Department is relaunching this program at a pilot level and hope that the full rollout will also be rolled out soon.
The uncertainty remains on the chronology
Though there is much excitement and relief among Indian professionals working in the US on temporary work visas over this announcement; questions remain about how soon the full rollout will happen and they will benefit from it. “It is true that the State Department has declared ‘later this year.’ The meaning of “later” is totally unknown as of now, but the one thing that impacted foreign citizens in the United States should keep in mind is that the state department must first create this consular visa office in Washington , DC and have that infrastructure in place before the pilot program officially launches, says Min Kim, a partner and attorney in the Edison office of law firm Chugh LLP. The good news is that there doesn’t need to be any official change in US immigration law for the state department to start this program. “But just because the law doesn’t need to be changed doesn’t mean the agency is currently ready to introduce something similar. They need to hire experienced staff, put protocols in place, and basically build a consular office from scratch in Washington, DC before any discussions take place in terms of an actual launch date for the program. It will take some time,” Kim warns.
But while the timeline is still unclear on when the program will launch, there is optimism. “At the moment there are no details. When the option was discussed earlier, the State Department simply indicated that it was considering the idea. This new report suggests that we have made progress towards effective implementation of the programme. The government tends to stall for new efforts, so while the report suggests it could be implemented later this year, that could mean as late as December or even into next year,” says Neumann. Gokare estimates the pilot project could begin around fall 2023 as a consular division needs to be launched in Washington DC, before it can be launched.
It is also unclear whether the program will initially target only major H-1 and L-1 visa applicants or their dependents on H-4 and L-2 visas as well. “Considering that what is slated to launch is a pilot program that by definition seeks to limit the scope of the U.S. visa processing reinstatement, I personally would be skeptical that the initial rollout would include dependents,” he said. stated Kim. The State Department is looking into whether this change is possible at this time and therefore will likely receive only a limited number of such “test” cases for now with the intent that, if successful, the reintroduction of data processing US visas will be phased over time, he added.
“Automatic intra-state visa renewal would save H-1 and L-1 visa holders from months of needless agony. Until this program is implemented in its full capacity, births, weddings, funerals and other important life occasions will be missed; visa holders will not be able to go back to caring for the sick parent and agents who block the appointment booking system to charge a large amount to sell dates to visa holders would continue to thrive as visa holders continue to live a life in agony and uncertainty,” summarizes Mahajan.
