Stateside Visa Renewal Pilot | #MobilityMinute

In this Mobility Minute, Senior Associate Amanda Hayes discusses the U.S. Department of State’s plans to test a stateside visa renewal pilot program. The program, aimed at reducing the impact of significant visa application backlogs at U.S. consulates, would allow certain H and L visa holders to revalidate their visas from within the country, rather than traveling abroad to renew their visas at consulates.

Immigration advocates have long-urged the State Department to permit stateside visa revalidation as a means to alleviate the exceptionally lengthy application backlogs that developed at consulates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While much remains unknown about the pilot program and the State Department’s plans to implement a revalidation program more widely, the pilot is expected to take shape later in 2023.