1. Global Education Office
  2. Student Services
  3. Immigration Advising
  4. Applying for a Visa
  5. H-1B Visa Stamp Pilot Program
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H-1B Visa Stamp Pilot Program


Background

An H-1B visa stamp is a small document placed in the passport of an H-1B visa employee that allows the employee to return to the U.S. from travel abroad in H-1B status.

Normally, H-1B visa stamps are available only from U.S. consulates outside the U.S.  

This means that an H-1B visa employee needs to apply for their H-1B visa stamp while they are outside the U.S.  

Due to U.S. consulate H-1B visa stamp processing times, delays in returning to the U.S. are not uncommon.

H-1B Visa Stamp Pilot Program

The U.S. Department of State (DOS) recently announced that they are looking at ways to provide H-1B visa stamps from inside the U.S.

This would allow an H-1B visa employee to obtain an H-1B visa stamp before departing the U.S.

And that, in turn, would reduce or even eliminate delays by H-1B visa employees in returning to the U.S.

To that end, DOS will initiate a short, experimental (pilot) program that will allow some H-1B visa holders to obtain H-1B visa stamps from inside the U.S.

 

Pilot Program Timeframe

The pilot program will run for 2 months only: January 29, 2024-April 1, 2024. 

At the conclusion of the program, DOS will determine the feasibility of making the program permanent.

 

Pilot Program Procedures

Employees eligible for the pilot program will need to apply for their H-1B visa stamps via an online portal that DOS will open on or prior to January 29, 2024.

As of early January 2024, the DOS portal is not yet available but information about the portal should soon be available online from DOS.

Details about the pilot program procedures have either not been finalized by DOS or not disclosed to the public yet.

However, at present, the procedures seem to include the following steps:

  • The employee will access the pilot program portal on their own and follow the directions. This step will probably include completing forms and paying DOS visa application fees online.
  • The employee will then send their passport to DOS at an address to be determined.
  • DOS will review the application. Their target processing time for this step is 6-8 weeks.
  • If DOS approves the application, they will place an H-1B visa stamp in the employee’s passport. DOS will send the stamped passport back to the employee.
  • If DOS denies the application, they will return the unstamped passport to the employee.

Eligible H-1B visa employees are not required to use the pilot program. They can instead apply for H-1B visa stamps from U.S. consulates abroad.

 

Pilot Program Eligibility

DOS eligibility criteria for the pilot program appear to be very narrow. It is expected that relatively few H-1B visa employees will be eligible for it.

As of early January 2024, the eligibility criteria are:

  1. The pilot program applies only to H-1B visa stamps. Those seeking H-4 (dependent) or other visa types are not eligible.
  2. Only H-1B visa stamp renewal applications are eligible. Applications for first-time H-1B visa stamps are not eligible.
  3. The employee’s most recently issued H-1B visa stamp must have been issued by a U.S. consulate in Canada between January 1, 2020-April 1, 2023, or by a U.S. consulate in India between February 1, 2021-September 30, 2021. If the employee’s most recent H-1B visa stamp was issued by a consulate in any other country or on any other dates, they are not eligible for the pilot program.
  4. The employee must not be subject to a “reciprocity fee”.
  5. The employee must be eligible for a waiver of the normal requirement to appear for an in-person interview at a U.S. consulate.
  6. The employee must have submitted their fingerprints to DOS in connection with a previous visa application.
  7. The employee’s prior H-1B visa stamp may not include a “clearance received” annotation.
  8. The employee must not have a visa ineligibility that would require a waiver prior to H-1B visa stamp issuance.
  9. The employee must have a valid Form I-797 H-1B approval notice that has not expired.
  • The employee’s most recent admission to the U.S. must have been in H-1B status.
  • The employee must be currently maintaining lawful, unexpired H-1B status in the U.S.
  • The employee must intend to use the H-1B visa stamp to return to the U.S. after a temporary period abroad.

NOTES:

  • Per DOS, applying for an H-1B visa stamp via the pilot program neither increases nor decreases the employee’s chances of approval. The pilot program is simply an alternative (vs. consulate processing) to an H-1B visa stamp.   It is not (at least at this time) necessarily a “better” option.
  • The normal time for the processing of a consulate (vs. pilot program) H-1B visa application is about 4 weeks. DOS has indicated a target processing time of 6-8 weeks for pilot program H-1B visa stamp applications to process all applications submitted via the portal by May 1, 2024. 
  • This means that pilot program applications will not be processed faster than consulate-based applications. Indeed, pilot program applications could take longer to process.
  • DOS has indicated that it will not accept expedited requests for pilot program applications.
  • Other than to indicate that a pilot program H-1B visa application has been approved or denied, DOS will not communicate with the employee or VCU about the application (meaning no updates).