Sophie Alcorn, lawyerits author and founder Alcorn Immigration Law in California’s Silicon Valley, is an award-winning Certified Specialist in Immigration and Nationality Law from the State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Sophie is passionate about overcoming borders, expanding opportunities and connecting the world by practicing compassionate, visionary and experienced immigration law. Connect with Sophia on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Dear Sophia,
I am working in the US on an H-1B visa which I received in 2022. However, I do not have an H-1B visa stamp in my passport because I changed my status from an F-1 student to an H-1B professional while in the US Although I think I qualify for an interview waiver at the US Embassy in New Delhi, I have not left the US due to the uncertainty of whether I will be granted an interview waiver and the possible delay in returning to my job in the US I heard that a new program visa stamping will begin soon in the US. Am I eligible?
— Stamp search
Dear seeker,
Staying in the US after being approved for the H-1B Special Occupation Visa was the smart thing to do! We have many clients who, like you, changed their status while in the US and do not have a visa paper — often called a visa stamp — in their passport. Since COVID, we have often advised individuals to avoid international travel unless absolutely necessary. This is due to a combination of changing factors, such as unpredictable visa appointment wait times and the discretionary waiver process for in-person interviews, which has been extended until at least the end of this year.
So thank you for your question about the domestic visa stamping pilot program announced last month by the US Department of State (DoS), which oversees consular processing for visas and green cards one note published in the Federal Register.
The pilot program has been scaled back significantly since initial reports last year to limit the resources required. At the time, reports said the pilot program would allow for both H-1B and L-1 Visa holders to renew their passport visa stamp while in the U.S. In other words, they could get a visa stamp without having to travel back to their home country and wait for an appointment at a U.S. embassy or consulate.
Objective of the pilot program
The State Department previously offered in-state visa stamping for many nonimmigrant visa renewals, including m, H, largeand THE visas, until October 26, 2004, when the Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002, passed after the 9/11 attacks, required the collection of biometric data from visa applicants. Since then, the DoS has required all visa applicants, except certain diplomatic and other applicants, to obtain a visa stamp in their passport at a US embassy or consulate abroad.
“The objective of this pilot,” according to the DoS announcement, “is to test the Department’s technical and operational capability to repeat domestic visa renewals for specific nonimmigrant classifications and to evaluate the effectiveness of this program in reducing wait times for visa globally, shifting some workloads from overseas positions to the United States.”
