H1B visa renewal could soon be available within the United States, according to a senior Biden administration official. The official made their statement ahead of a bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday. The vast majority of H1B visas issued by the United States are to Indian nationals.
“The second thing that we’re doing is the United States Department of State is going to launch a pilot to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas later this year, including for Indian nationals with the intent to implement this for an expanded pool of H-1 and L visa holders,” said the Biden administration official.
This change could have a major impact on the hundreds of thousands of H1B visa holders currently working in the United States. Since 2004, these workers have been required to leave the US and typically return to the US consulate in their home country in order to get their passport stamped with an H1B visa extension. This change could save temporary workers a significant amount of time and money when renewing their H1B visa.
According to the Biden administration official, “It is good for people in India, good for people in the United States, really good for our businesses.”
There is currently no official information on when this change might take effect. For the time being, H1B workers wishing to renew their visas must still leave the United States in order to do so. The exact details and timeline for when domestic H1B renewal might become available should be forthcoming when an official announcement is made later this year.
