Trump's coup on the H1Bs.
So what happened is that earlier, H1Bs to get renewed could go to Mexico and do a re-entry. Then Trump say nooooo you have to go back to your own countries. So the H1B Indians went to India and they booked their interview slots. Then Trump canceled all the slots citing social media vetting and moved all their slots to June, July, Sept of 2026.
So what happens now? Here is my guess.
These H1Bs cannot enter the US again until they get approved again which will be after their mid-2026 slots. Those may get moved again, no guarantees. Some have fancy $2-3M houses in the Bay Area, they cannot go back to which may get foreclosed on. Kids have school they cannot go back to. Fancy Tesla cars may get impounded. The chatter is that they can work remotely from India, but I think that is not legally possible as H1B means they have to live withing 50 miles of their work location, not 6000 miles away. Maybe they can transfer to an India office for legality purposes? If not, then it is unlikely that in these conditions, employers are going to keep them in the team for 8-10 months, they are likely to get fired. So if that happens, then they have no H1B so their Sept 2026 slot also vanishes. They are stuck in India with a lot of immovable property in the US.
Trump may give them some relief in some time but he would have struck enough terror in their hearts that they are probably looking to move back to India. It would be better for them than to risk this up and down uncertain life in the US as their kids get older and into middle school when it gets harder to just move back.
A difficult situation no doubt. I am sure the Dems are itching to help them out.
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they're stuck.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/19/india-h1b-visas-skilled-workers-trump/
Today at 9:48 a.m. EST
Tech Execs of SV ---> Biggest crooks.
This is the final kick.
So what happened is that earlier, H1Bs to get renewed could go to Mexico and do a re-entry. Then Trump say nooooo you have to go back to your own countries. So the H1B Indians went to India and they booked their interview slots. Then Trump canceled all the slots citing social media vetting and moved all their slots to June, July, Sept of 2026.
So what happens now? Here is my guess.
These H1Bs cannot enter the US again until they get approved again which will be after their mid-2026 slots. Those may get moved again, no guarantees. Some have fancy $2-3M houses in the Bay Area, they cannot go back to which may get foreclosed on. Kids have school they cannot go back to. Fancy Tesla cars may get impounded. The chatter is that they can work remotely from India, but I think that is not legally possible as H1B means they have to live withing 50 miles of their work location, not 6000 miles away. Maybe they can transfer to an India office for legality purposes? If not, then it is unlikely that in these conditions, employers are going to keep them in the team for 8-10 months, they are likely to get fired. So if that happens, then they have no H1B so their Sept 2026 slot also vanishes. They are stuck in India with a lot of immovable property in the US.
Trump may give them some relief in some time but he would have struck enough terror in their hearts that they are probably looking to move back to India. It would be better for them than to risk this up and down uncertain life in the US as their kids get older and into middle school when it gets harder to just move back.
A difficult situation no doubt. I am sure the Dems are itching to help them out.
H-1B workers flew to India to renew U.S. visas. Now they're stuck.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/19/india-h1b-visas-skilled-workers-trump/
Today at 9:48 a.m. EST
Quote:
H-1B holders who returned to India this month to renew their visas had consular appointments canceled, stranding them far from their homes and jobs, lawyers said.
Quote:
By Pranshu Verma and Supriya Kumar
NEW DELHI Indian H-1B visa holders who traveled back to India this month to renew their American work permits are now stranded far from home after their appointments were abruptly canceled by U.S. consular offices and rescheduled for months later, according to three immigration lawyers who specialize in H-1B cases.
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of high-skilled workers had appointments canceled between Dec. 15 and 26, the lawyers said, a period many H-1B holders target for renewal since it coincides with the U.S. holiday season. In emails viewed by The Washington Post, the State Department told visa holders their interviews were being delayed after the implementation of the Trump administration's new social media vetting policy, "to ensure that no applicants … pose a threat to U.S. national security or public safety."
Quote:
The H-1B immigration program which has allowed hundreds of thousands of foreign workers with specialized skills to live and work in the United States for up to six years has been a source of controversy during Trump's second term. Some of his most influential far-right backers have called for the program to be eliminated, arguing it takes jobs from U.S. citizens. But tech executives in Silicon Valley have pushed back, saying H-1B workers are vital for their industry.
Tech Execs of SV ---> Biggest crooks.
Quote:
The sudden cancellations have upended lives, the lawyers said, leaving workers on expired visas fearful of losing their jobs. Emily Neumann, a partner at the Houston-based immigration firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC, said she had at least 100 clients stranded in India. Veena Vijay Ananth, an immigration attorney in India, and Charles Kuck, who practices immigration law in Atlanta, said they each had more than a dozen similar cases.
Quote:
Many of those affected are tech workers in their 30s and 40s, the lawyers said, who have lived in the United States for years. They are now scrambling to find alternative work arrangements with their U.S. companies. Some who traveled to India with their kids must now decide whether to keep them out of school or send them home alone; others are separated from their families entirely.
Quote:
'They're devastated'
India has long been the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B program, accounting for 71 percent of visa holders, according to an April 2025 report from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). As of September, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft were the three largest sponsors of H-1B workers, the USCIS data shows. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.
In July, the State Department announced that H-1B holders, and their dependents on H4 visas, would no longer be able to renew their documents remotely or in a third country as of Sept. 2 requiring them to return to their home countries to complete the process. On Sept. 19, Trump signed a proclamation imposing a $100,000 payment for new H-1B applications.
On Dec. 3, the Trump administration announced "expanded screening and vetting" procedures for H-1B and H4 dependent visa holders, including a review of their online presence. "Every visa adjudication is a national security decision," the State Department said. "A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right."
In the following days, H-1B visa holders with renewal appointments in mid-to-late December started receiving emails from the State Department saying that "operational constraints" had forced consulates to reduce the number of appointments they could take each day, according to messages reviewed by The Post.
The bulk of the renewal appointments are being rescheduled between March and June, the three lawyers said; one applicant was given a makeup date in 2027. Ananth said there's very little guidance she can give to her heartsick clients.
"They're devastated," she said.
Quote:
'What do I do?'
An Indian man who lives in the Detroit suburbs and works as an engineer said he flew back to India in early December for a wedding and had consular appointments set up for Dec. 17 and 23 to renew his H-1B visa, which is now expired. He spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity for fear of jeopardizing his immigration status.
On Dec. 8, he got a series of emails from the State Department saying his consular appointment had been canceled and rescheduled for July 2 more than six months away. "I was like 'OK, What do I do?'" he recalled. The engineer has a wife in the United States on her own H-1B visa and a 5-year-old son. On Friday, he said, he was able to secure an expedited appointment after his company submitted documentation showing several of the projects he's working on are ramping up next year.
But he's still apprehensive: "I'm hoping they honor it and don't just bump it out further," he said. Lawyers said such exemptions are rare.
The changes to the H-1B program are misguided, the engineer said, because foreign workers help power many leading American companies (HA HA HA HA). He cited a recent job search he oversaw, where he said it would have been easier to hire a U.S. citizen for a technical role, but the lion's share of candidates with the requisite engineering and work experience were H-1B holders.
"If you see an overnight exodus of people working on H-1B's, I promise you, a lot of companies are going to fall flat," he said.
Unable to predict when employees will return, U.S. tech executives are scrambling to come up with accommodations and work arounds, said a person familiar with the issue.
This is the final kick.
Quote:
Since Trump returned to office, Neumann has advised her clients to avoid foreign travel given the uncertainty surrounding the H-1B program. After the spate of canceled appointments, she said, a new worry has emerged.
If H-1B holders are outside the country when their visa expires, she said, their company cannot file for an extension and will likely have to start the visa application from scratch and risk incurring the new $100,000 fee.
"No company is paying that," she said.
