Pilot program allowing a limited number of H-1B workers to renew visas in the US starting today 1/29

[CricPokChic]

Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot for H-1B Workers to Start in January

• Option will initially be open to 20,000 temporary visa holders
• State Department also aims to extend interview waivers

A limited number of H-1B specialty occupation workers will be able to renew their visas in the US as soon as January, State Department officials announced.

The stateside visa renewal pilot program is one of multiple measures the State Department is looking to add or continue with the aim of driving down wait times for travel to the US, officials told reporters Monday.

The agency is also is working to extend interview waivers for certain temporary visas and offer a digital visa for travel to the US. Discretion for consular offices to waive interviews for visa applicants who would otherwise be required to appear in person has been key to improving efficiency, supporters say.

The rollout of the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot will be limited to just 20,000 participants at first. That option would allow those H-1B holders to renew their visas by mailing them to the State Department rather than travel outside the US and face uncertain wait times to secure an appointment at a US consular office before returning.

A Federal Register notice with full details is expected to be published next month.

“We really need to get proof of concept that it works before we can extend it to a larger group,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Julie Stufft told reporters Monday. “This is a huge change for folks who live here and previously would have had to leave the United States.”

But extending interview waivers and reducing pent-up backlogs for travel to the US are more significant to ongoing efforts to reduce wait times. Backlogs have persisted in some countries—including Mexico, India, and Colombia—even after a post-Covid processing rebound that saw total visas issued hit near-record levels in 2022.

Visa Interviews

Stufft called interview waivers a “tremendous help” to the State Department’s efforts to process visa applications efficiently. The Trump administration gave consulates temporary authority to use waivers for certain visa categories during the pandemic, and the Biden administration has extended that authority multiple times.

With the current waiver authority set to expire at the end of December, the travel industry and a coalition of business and immigration advocates have pressed the government to renew the waiver option again, calling the waivers “an indispensable discretionary tool” to improve efficiency of consular offices.

About half of all temporary visas—including work visas—were issued last year without an in-person interview.

The legal authority for renewing the waivers is clear, Stufft said, but it requires concurrence from the Department of Homeland Security. The agencies are having a “robust conversation” on what is and isn’t working at ports of entry, she said. State isn’t currently considering an option like remote interviews as it prioritizes waivers and the visa renewal pilot instead, officials said.

“Everyone is very focused on making sure we resolve this issue by the end of the year,” Stufft said. “I feel pretty good about where that’s headed.”

Help With Backlogs

The pilot offering domestic visa renewal options to temporary visa holders for the first time in nearly two decades is still undergoing review at the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Without that option, workers whose visas were expiring have had to get an appointment for a visa stamp at a consulate or embassy abroad, with pandemic-exacerbated delays stranding many outside the country for months at a time. Especially high backlogs in countries like India, the biggest source of H-1B workers, are a major headache for workers and their employers.

Some H-1B workers have pursued work-arounds such as traveling to nearby countries with fewer backlogs—such as Canada—to secure visa appointments. The domestic renewal option would help consular offices in those countries as well as India, Stufft said.

 

Across the globe, the average wait time to secure a visa appointment for travel to the US fell to 130 days last year, a drop of 70 days from fiscal year 2022. But high wait times remain in certain countries. Official wait times in Bogota, Colombia, for example, exceed 600 days.

The State Department considers acceptable wait times to be closer to 90 days.

The backlog at those consular offices likely “goes beyond a hangover from Covid,” Stufft said. “We’re seeing a demand signal here that is way higher than we would expect given the amount of work they’ve done,” she said.

[Android_Halwa]

Dukanam teravagane first apply chesi 10githa

[pakeer_saab]

3 minutes ago, Android_Halwa said:

Dukanam teravagane first apply chesi 10githa

Pilot program endi, this used to be norm 20 yrs ago

process marchipoyara endi

[Android_Halwa]

2 minutes ago, pakeer_saab said:

Pilot program endi, this used to be norm 20 yrs ago

process marchipoyara endi

Yeah, that’s what my cousins said. When they applied for extension, they also used to send the passport for visa stamping. 

[CricPokChic]

2 minutes ago, pakeer_saab said:

Pilot program endi, this used to be norm 20 yrs ago

process marchipoyara endi

malli start chestunannaru ga with limited applications...so pilot program ani pettaru malli...

[Android_Halwa]

1 minute ago, CricPokChic said:

malli start chestunannaru ga with limited applications...so pilot program ani pettaru malli...

A lot has changed kada…there might be entirely new process. 

[CricPokChic]

1 minute ago, Android_Halwa said:

A lot has changed kada…there might be entirely new process. 

yeah renew by mailing them antunandu ga article lo

The rollout of the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot will be limited to just 20,000 participants at first. That option would allow those H-1B holders to renew their visas by mailing them to the State Department rather than travel outside the US and face uncertain wait times to secure an appointment at a US consular office before returning.

[Aquaman]

reject ayithe, dobey mantara....

[CricPokChic]

1 minute ago, Aquaman said:

reject ayithe, dobey mantara....

that's the downside and risk we have to take....

[FReddy]

black friday roju doorbusters kosam egabadinattu padataru.. 20k 1 hr lo aipothai

[Sucker]

45 minutes ago, pakeer_saab said:

Pilot program endi, this used to be norm 20 yrs ago

process marchipoyara endi

20 years back ki chala changes vachai kadha anna. New security risk assessment chesaka ne idhi started. 

[CricPokChic]

33 minutes ago, FReddy said:

black friday roju doorbusters kosam egabadinattu padataru.. 20k 1 hr lo aipothai

ya easy ga ayipovachu...hopefully they will increase seeing the demand.....

[pakeer_saab]

1 hour ago, Sucker said:

20 years back ki chala changes vachai kadha anna. New security risk assessment chesaka ne idhi started. 

all those assessments don't apply to those walking directly inside.

 

 

[soldier]

H4 ekkada mention cheyaledu.....Pellanni pillalano vadili mingatame na 

[CricPokChic]

Just now, soldier said:

H4 ekkada mention cheyaledu.....Pellanni pillalano vadili mingatame na 

haha nenu ade anukunna...only H1's ayite family ne odileyyatame.....🤪