Google, Apple and Microsoft have internally warned H-1B visa holders they could get stuck abroad for months
Several major US tech companies – including Google, Apple, and Microsoft – have warned foreign-national employees holding H-1B visas against traveling outside the country amid President Donald Trump’s immigration clampdown, which could leave them stranded abroad for months, Business Insider reported.
The H-1B visa allows foreign nationals to work in specialty occupations in the US and is typically issued for up to three years. Extensions require visa stamping at US embassies or consulates abroad. Routine appointments are now facing significant delays following the introduction of a new social-media screening requirement affecting H-1B workers and their dependents, as well as students and exchange visitors.
According to internal memos reviewed by Business Insider, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and IT automation firm ServiceNow are among the companies advising visa-holding employees to avoid international travel.
BAL Immigration Law, which represents Google, warned that delays at some US embassies and consulates are “currently reported as up to 12 months,” cautioning that employees who travel risk “an extended stay outside the US.”
Apple issued similar guidance, urging workers without valid H-1B visa stamps to postpone travel. Microsoft also cautioned staff, advising employees still in the US to “strongly consider changing” their travel plans.
A State Department spokesperson told Business Insider on Friday that US embassies and consulates are now “prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived a hardline approach to border and visa enforcement aimed at curbing illegal immigration. Following an attack on two National Guard soldiers in Washington in late November, Trump announced additional measures, including the suspension of asylum procedures and expanded entry bans affecting nationals of 19 countries.
The Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV-1) program, commonly known as the Green Card Lottery, was also suspended after US authorities determined that a suspect in recent shootings at Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had entered the country through that system.
