US: Changes Made To H1-B Dropbox Eligibility Criteria

Amid the concerns about H-1B approvals and denials with the new government, immigration has become hard for students and individuals on work visas entering the USA. On top of that, the USCIS has changed the rules of Dropbox for H-1B visa holders.

The eligibility criteria for a ‘Dropbox’ visa interview waiver have been updated for India. The applicant’s prior visa cannot have expired more than 12 months before the new visa application, which was previously 48 48-month period.

During the Covid period, it was extended to 48 months and now the United States has revised it back to 12 month period.

The H-1b visa holders who have scheduled their Dropbox appointment based on old rules (48 months eligibility) need to cancel their appointment as they no longer qualify with the new criteria.

If the individual is changing from a different visa, like from F1 or H4 to H1-B, the present eligibility criteria do not allow dropbox.

The changed eligibility criteria have been worrying a lot of H-1B visa holders as many of them have to face in-person interviews, unlike the last few years.