H1B Visa Renewals In US, But Not For Dependents

The pilot program of the State Department to renew H-1B visas in the United States will not include the dependents of H-1B professionals. The main aim of the program is to cut down the wait times for travel to the US.

The US begins the program for domestic renewal of certain categories of work visas this month. In the limited rollout of the H-1B domestic visa renewal pilot, 20,000 participants will be renewing their visas. The selection process for the initial candidates is not disclosed.

The applicants are required to mail their visas to the State Department and are prohibited from traveling outside the US.

The program is specifically meant for work visas and when asked about the possibility of extending the program for dependents, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Jile Stifft said, ‘We’re very excited about it. We’re starting small with a pilot of 20,000 cases in December, January, and February and we look forward to opening that to more categories of workers living in the United States in the rest of 2024. We really need to get proof of concept that it works before we can extend it to a larger group. This is a huge change for folks who live here and previously would have had to leave the United States.’