H-1B Visa Holders Who Returned To Renew Work Permits Stranded In India

Hundreds of H-1B visa holders, who travelled back to India to renew their work permits earlier this month, have been stranded as their appointments were abruptly postponed to next year amid the US State Department's new social media vetting policy. The workers had the appointments scheduled between December 15 and 26 - a period also coinciding with the US holiday season.

Interviews scheduled for mid to late December are reportedly pushed to March next year.

Many leading law firms have said they have hundreds of clients stranded in India. "This is the biggest mess we have seen. I'm not sure there is a plan," an immigration attorney in India, Veena Vijay Ananth, told The Washington Post.

A man reportedly living in the Detroit suburbs who flew back to India this month for a wedding, had consular appointments on December 17 and 23. However, they have now expired. Experts are concerned about how long the companies for whom they have been working are willing to wait for their return.

The State Department, in an email, reportedly informed the Indian workers that their interviews were delayed due to the new social media vetting policy, which aims to "ensure no applicants pose a threat to the US national security or public safety".

The US Embassy in India, on December 9, had issued an advisory, warning that any visa applicant arriving at the consulate on a previously scheduled interview date after being notified of a reschedule will be refused entry. "If you have received an email advising that your visa appointment has been rescheduled, Mission India looks forward to assisting you on your new appointment date. Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate," it said.

According to a report by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in April, India accounts for 71 per cent of H-1B visa holders.

Google, Apple's warning

US tech giants Google and Apple have warned some employees not to travel abroad after learning that US visa re-entry processing at American embassies and consulates is facing "significant" delays that can stretch up to 12 months, Business Insider reported, citing internal memos.

Google's external counsel, BAL Immigration Law, in an email, urged affected staff to avoid international trips because of unusually long appointment backlogs at diplomatic missions and warned travellers they could "risk an extended stay outside the US."

US' social media vetting policy

The Donald Trump administration has begun the enhanced screening and vetting of H-1B and its dependent H-4 visa applicants, including checks of their social media profile - weeks after the State Department instructed all visa holders to change their privacy settings to 'public'. Students and exchange visitors were already subject to such scrutiny - which has now been extended to workers.

"Every visa adjudication is a national security decision," the State Department said.

The social media screening is just the latest scrutiny of the H-1B program, the primary immigration pathway for skilled foreign workers that has come under increasing pressure from the Trump administration. In September, US President Donald Trump imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B work visas - an order that could significantly impact Indian workers seeking temporary employment in the US.

Later, the US also paused Green Card, US citizenship, and other immigration applications for people coming from 19 "countries of concern" after the shooting of National Guard soldiers by an Afghan national.