U.S. State Department Plans Pilot Program For Domestic Visa Renewal

The U.S. State Department confirmed in an article late last week that the agency plans to launch a pilot program later this year offering visa renewal options in the United States for H-1B specialty occupation workers and other temporary visa holders who are currently required to travel abroad to obtain visas. Julie Stufft, deputy assistant secretary for visa services in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, explained that "restoring stateside visa renewals, which were discontinued in 2004, will save those applicants from having to leave the country, and will reduce the workload of consular offices abroad."

The pilot program is expected to benefit H-1B and L visa workers and it could eventually be expanded. Adding the domestic processing option does not require the State Department to issue new regulations, but Stufft explained that the new program requires setting up a new consular division in Washington, D.C. which is "not a small endeavor."