Domestic Visa Renewal Pilot Program To Launch In January 2024

The U.S. Department of State has announced the launch of a new domestic H-1B visa renewal pilot program. Starting on January 29, 2024, and through April 30, 2024, certain H-1B visa applicants will be eligible to apply for H-1B visas online. Notably, during this pilot program, only H-1B specialty occupation visa holders will qualify for the domestic renewal process. H-4 dependent visa holders will not qualify at this time for the domestic visa renewal process.

The application process is as follows:

• To control the number of applications received, the DOS will, each week, release approximately 2,000 application slots for applicants whose most recent H-1B visas were issued by Mission Canada, and approximately 2,000 application slots for those whose most recent H-1B visas were issued by Mission India (approximately 4,000 total each week) on the following dates:
  • January 29