High-skilled professionals from other countries working in the United States will soon be able to renew their H-1B visas without leaving the US, impacting thousands of Indians working in specialized sectors.
A year ago the US State Department started a pilot project to test this process. It included approximately 20,000 eligible participants who met the requirements listed in the US Federal Register.
The pilot program proved successful, and therefore, applicants for renewal of H-1B visas will not be required to return to their home country for the renewal to be stamped. This was a long-pending concern by professionals under this visa programme, the majority of whom are Indians. Apart from the inconvenience of traveling halfway around the world and spending lakhs of rupees on air tickets, the process was an arduous process in which the applicant had to wait for a confirmed visa appointment, which often led to long wait times. And later there was delay.
The aim of the pilot project was to make the renewal process faster and convenient.
In its year-end press statement announcement, the US State Department said that the pilot project for H-1B renewals “allowed many specialized occupation workers from India to renew their visas without leaving the United States This pilot program streamlined the renewal process for thousands of applicants, and the State Department is working to formally establish a U.S.-based renewal program in 2025.”
Although the new process is confirmed to start this year, the date when it will officially start has not been announced yet.
This comes at a time when there is intense debate over the H-1B visa and its impact on the job market for US citizens. The far-right has urged incoming President Donald Trump to end the program along with his other plans to curb immigration. Many argue that H-1B visa holders “take away American jobs” and are a “threat to Western civilization.”
However, Donald Trump and his top officials, including Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have supported the H-1B visa program, saying that “America needs talented people”, and the H-1B will allow the world’s top talent to live in the US and Work that helps the United States stay ahead of the curve globally in technology, research, and healthcare.
India tops the list of H-1B visa holders globally, most of whom work in the technology industry, followed by medicine and research. According to 2022 data from the US State Department, 77 percent of the 3,20,000 H-1B visa applications went to Indians. In 2023 also, out of 3,86,000 visas, more than 72 percent were issued to Indian citizens.
With 3,31,000 student visas in 2024 alone, Indians now constitute the largest number of international students pursuing professional degrees or higher education in the United States.
The US State Department further said that over the past four years, the number of visitors from India has increased five-fold, and more than two million Indians visited the United States in the first eleven months of 2024, compared to the same period in 2024. Percentage has increased. In 2023.
