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.”
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