Domestic Visa Revalidation Is Returning to the U.S.!

Before you get too excited, I want to point out two things: (1) the visa revalidation option will only apply, initially, to those seeking to renew H and L visas; and (2) the revalidation program will be launched later this year, but a definitive date has not been announced.

On February 9, 2023, Bloomberg Law published an article based on its interview with Julie Stufft, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Visa Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Department of State. Deputy Assistant Secretary Stufft confirmed that the Department of State would be launching the pilot domestic visa renewal program later this year, initially for foreign nationals seeking to extend their H and L visas, but could expand the program to include other visa classifications in the future.

This is good news of course! Immigration practitioners, U.S. employers and foreign nationals have been advocating for a domestic visa renewal process since the COVID-19 pandemic led to the shutdown of numerous U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. This in turn resulted in a significant backlog of pending visa applications, the unavailability of visa appointments, foreign national employees being stuck abroad for many months, and an interruption in work for U.S. employers.

However, the Department of State noted that one of the challenges in implementing the domestic visa renewal program is the difficulty in creating a new consular division in Washington, D.C.

Again, this is good news, but I can't help but wonder why a program that had already been in place for many years has taken so long to resurrect.  

Domestic visa revalidation IS NOT new—the Department of State already operated a very popular and very successful visa revalidation program through its Consular Division in Washington, D.C. until 2004. The old visa revalidation program enabled foreign nationals in the United States in E, H, L and O nonimmigrant visa status, among others, to renew their visas through the Consular Division in Washington, D.C. This visa revalidation program ended in 2004 because the Department of State was unable to meet the biometrics data collection requirements created by new national security laws enacted after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

Although it may take several more months to be implemented, the new visa renewal program will be an important and welcomed benefit for many foreign nationals, their families and U.S. employers and we are happy to see it return.

I will continue to monitor the Department of State’s visa renewal program and will provide updates as soon as information becomes available.