On October 17, 2023, the Department of State (DOS) submitted a proposal in the Federal Register setting forth eligibility criteria for participation in a Stateside Visa Renewal pilot program.

While full details of the scope of the pilot program will be shared in the Federal Register notice when published, we understand that it will:

• Begin in early 2024;
• Be limited to H-1B principals only (not H-4 dependents);
• Be limited to nationals of countries that are not subject to reciprocity fees;
• India will be one of the eligible countries to participate in the pilot program;
• Have eligibility requirements like those for participation in the interview waiver program;
• Be available for 20,000 applicants; and
• Be for voluntary participation.

The initial launch of the stateside renewal program will be a limited pilot to test out the operationality of the stateside renewal program. DOS has expressed its strong intent to expand this program after the initial launch has allowed them to work out any operational issues.

Prior to 9/11/2001, the U.S. had a stateside visa revalidation system whereby individuals who had previously obtained a visa at a U.S. Consulate, could send their passport and a new approval notice to the DOS in Washington, DC, to have a new visa stamp placed in their passport and the passport returned to them via courier.

The recent DOS proposal signals the possible return to visa processing within the U.S. for H-1B principals and, hopefully, future expansion to other visa categories. Clearly, Stateside visa revalidation will save applicants the time and expense involved in traveling internationally to obtain a new visa stamp and should help reduce the long backlogs that continue to plague U.S. Consular posts abroad.

AILA (American Immigration Lawyers Association) will continue to monitor the rollout and implementation of the pilot program and we will advise as additional information becomes available.