U.S. Tech Giants Warn H-1B Foreign Employees Against Departing Country
The H-1B visa permits international professionals to fill specialized roles in the US and typically grants authorization for three years maximum. Renewals necessitate visa stamping at US diplomatic missions abroad. Standard appointments now experience substantial backlogs following implementation of enhanced social-media vetting protocols impacting H-1B professionals and their dependents, plus students and exchange participants.
Internal communications obtained by media reveal Google, Apple, Microsoft, and IT automation company ServiceNow are advising visa-dependent staff to refrain from international trips.
BAL Immigration Law, representing Google, cautioned that processing delays at certain US embassies and consulates are "currently reported as up to 12 months," warning employees who depart face "an extended stay outside the US."
Apple distributed comparable instructions, recommending workers lacking current H-1B visa stamps delay travel. Microsoft similarly alerted personnel, suggesting employees currently stateside to "strongly consider changing" their travel plans.
A State Department spokesperson informed Business Insider Friday that US diplomatic facilities are presently "prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else."
Since resuming office in January, Trump has reinstated aggressive border and visa enforcement tactics targeting unauthorized immigration. After an assault on two National Guard soldiers in Washington in late November, Trump unveiled additional restrictions, including suspended asylum processing and broadened entry prohibitions affecting citizens of 19 nations.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV-1) program, popularly called the Green Card Lottery, was also halted after authorities identified that a suspect in recent shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had entered the nation through this channel.
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