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Journalism of Courage
In a move that could potentially benefit thousands of foreign tech workers on H-1B and L1 visas, the US is planning to resume “domestic visa revalidation” in certain categories on a pilot basis with the goal of scaling it up in the next few years.
The move is set to be launched later this year.
The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant work visa that allows US employers to hire foreign workers for specialty jobs that require a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. This can include occupations in fields such as IT, finance, engineering, architecture, etc. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Due to the extremely high demand for this visa, there is a cap on the number that can be issued each year. Currently, the cap is at 65,000 visas per fiscal year. If the employer who is sponsoring you is an institution of higher education, a nonprofit organisation connected to an institute of higher education, or a government research organisation, then the visa cap does not apply.
An H-1B visa is issued for a period of three years at a time.
L-1A and L-1B visas may be issued when an employer files a petition to obtain authorisation for qualified employees to be allowed to work and live in the United States.
The L-1A visa is for intracompany transferees who work in managerial or executive positions in a company that is located outside the United States. The L-1B visa is for intracompany transferees who work in positions requiring specialised knowledge.
Like the H-1B visa, this is also used by various US tech companies to hire qualified professionals from countries like India. There is no cap on L1 visas.
L-1A visas are issued for a time of seven years whereas L-1B visas are issued for a period of five years at a time.
The proposed move will allow the above visa-holders to renew their visas while continuing to stay in the US.
Whenever a visa expires, holders must get their passports stamped with the renewal dates. This is required if they wish to travel outside the US or re-enter the country. Currently, H-1B and L1 visa restamping is not allowed within the US – one must go to a US Consulate to get it done.
This is a major inconvenience for foreign workers, who need to return to their home countries and go through the visa renewal process there, as well as their employers who lose crucial labour force for extended periods of time.
The proposed move will allow visa-holders to continue working stateside while their visas get renewed.
While initially only a few cases will be eligible for stateside visa revalidation, over the next couple of years, the system is set to be scaled up. “We cannot comment on how many visa holders would be initially eligible, but the pilot would begin with a small number of cases before scaling over the following 1-2 years,” said a State Department spokesperson
Over the past few years, waiting periods to obtain visas have skyrocketed, with some people having to wait as much as two years before even receiving an appointment for visa renewal.
According to experts, visa times have gone up because of four main factors: shortage of staff at embassies, a sudden spike in tourist visas after pandemic induced shutdowns, pent-up applications from students and working professionals, and stricter protocol around granting visas by countries.
For employers and professionals already on H-1B and L1 visas, this is an extremely inconvenient situation.
Over the past few months, the Biden administration has taken several steps to address this situation. According to the US State Department, the soon-to-be-implemented proposal is one of the recommendations of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
The Commission argued in a meeting last year that people have had to wait as long as two years for a visa renewal, stuck at their home country, while their families remained in the US. This was a needlessly painful process which affected legal immigrants who helped the US economy. Thus, the Commission recommended establishing a separate department or unit to handle restamping of renewed H-1B and L visas within the US.
Notably, until 2004, certain categories of non-immigrant visas, particularly the H-1B, could be renewed or stamped inside the US.
