Avoiding Visa Bottlenecks Abroad: Domestic Renewals Explained

Workplace immigration attorneys and foreign tech workers celebrated the news last week that the State Department plans to launch a pilot program allowing stateside visa renewals.

Restoring domestic visa reissuance on a limited basis later this year after a two-decade suspension will allow foreign workers to renew visas without returning to their home countries, where they may face months-long wait times.

Workers renewing expired visas currently must get an appointment at a US embassy or consulate abroad. But many countries like India, the biggest source of high-skill temporary workers, have large backlogs for those appointments that haven’t met demand from ...