Be it H-1B visa holders and their kin, or international students, or even green card holders, US immigration attorneys are advising clients not to travel overseas. India is not on the proposed travel ban list by the US, but still the fear remains.
On Monday, TOI reported on similar advice being given to Green Card holders. The reasons range from delays in stamping at US consulates in home country, extreme vetting and cases of secondary inspection, including detention at US airports on return.
Kripa Upadhyay, an immigration attorney in Seattle, said, “This sounds heartless but foreigners (especially those needing to renew H-1B or F-1 visas) must think twice about leaving US right now.”
‘Visa holders must’ve contingency plans’
The US department of state has updated eligibility requirements for interview waiver appointments (referred to as dropbox appointments). Earlier, applicants could qualify for interview waiver if they had been issued a non-immigrant visa in any category (except B visitor visas) and were applying within 48 months of expiration. Under revised rules, dropbox is available only to applicants renewing a visa in the same non-immigrant category that has expired within past 12 months. Thus, if you are an international student with an F-1 visa and now need an H-1B you must wait for an interview slot. If you have an H-1B and need an extension, but your earlier visa was issued more than 12 months ago, you must also wait for an interview slot, Upadhyay said.
Snehal Batra, managing attorney at NPZ Law Group, said, “Delays due to visa appointment availability is only part of the concern. We know of individuals stuck in administrative processing for no apparent reason other than additional scrutiny and security clearances. This should not have happened if the individual had been previously approved for a visa multiple times. I think we can expect to see ‘extreme vetting’ similar to the tenure of the earlier Trump administration.”
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If US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved an H-1B, the consular officer has the right to refuse the visa and send the application back to USCIS for re-adjudication. Upadhyay added, “In a situation like this, employees outside the country would be stuck for several monthsbefore they can return to the US.” Rajiv S Khanna, managing attorney at Immigration.com, said, “If travel is unavoidable, visa applicants and their employers should also try to have contingency plans in case of delayed stamping such as continuing work from their home country.”
