H-1B visa renewal: US lifts 'return home' condition for Indians

Hyderabad: In a major relief, the US has relaxed H-1B / L-1 visa renewing norms for expatriate Indians. Indians having H-1B / L-1 visas need not go to their country for renewing process. Earlier, Indians in the US had to go home to extend their H-1B every three years.

Later this year, the US State Department will launch a pilot program offering visa renewal options in the US for H-1B specialty occupation workers and other temporary visa holders. Restoring stateside visa renewals, which were discontinued in 2004, will save those applicants from having to leave the country and reduce the workload of consular offices abroad.

This comes after the recommendation by President's Advisory Commission member, Ajay Jain Bhutoria from Silicon Valley, which suggested that H1-B and L visas be allowed for restamping in the US by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It urged the USCIS to establish a separate department or unit to handle restamping of renewed H1-B and L visas within the US.

In an exclusive interview with Bloomberg Law, Deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs Julie Stufft, said: “We all saw during the pandemic how difficult it was for these people to return to their home country and often not be able to get visa appointments to come back to their home, the United States. That’s what we’re trying to address initially with this.”

The stateside renewal option will be available to H and L visa holders and could eventually be expanded. However, the accurate number of Indians who will be benefitted from this new program is not known.

A big relief

The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Over half a million Indians work in the US on H-1B, and every three years, Indians have to go home to extend their H-1B. Under the 2004 rule, the procedure for restamping visas includes visiting the home country and submitting their H1, and L1 visas, passports, and documents after an interview and dropbox.

The visa holders need to get their stamping at the US embassy in Delhi or consulates in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkotta, or Mumbai before they travel back to the US. People have to wait months for appointments/slots years for H1-B visa stamping. Now, the visa renewal can be done in the US. It will reduce the long wait times for appointments in the US consular offices in India, and be a big relief for visa holders.

"I still remember the time when I had to travel to India for my visa renewal and got stuck due to the pandemic situation. It took me a year to get my visa stamping done, and come back to the US. This new program will help a lot of Indians living abroad", said Rasagnya, an Indian working in the US.