DOS Announces Pilot Stateside Visa Renewal Program for Certain H-1B Applicants Begins January 29

DOS announced a pilot program to permit stateside visa renewal for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants who meet certain requirements.   For starters, the H-1B visa must have previously been issued at a consular office in Canada or India during specific periods.  The pilot program also lasts only for a very specific, finite period:  1/29/24 to 4/1/24.  The announcement includes a number of other conditions and limitations on whom within this class of applicants can apply.   For example, the applicant must be eligible for an in-person interview waiver, must not have a “clearance received” annotation on their visa stamp, and must have previously submitted ten fingerprints to the State Department.  The announcement makes clear that H-4 dependents are not eligible for stateside visa renewals.

The resumption of even limited visa renewals in the United States is welcome news.  Until 2004, the Department of State routinely renewed nonimmigrant visas for all classifications but that was discontinued in the wake of 9/11 legislation that, in this circumstance, required that U.S. visas include biometric identifiers.  Because the State Department did not possess the capacity to collect fingerprints in the U.S., all but diplomatic nonimmigrant visas were required to be processed abroad at embassies or consulates.

We hope this program is extended after the pilot period and is extended to other nonimmigrant visa holders.