This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tahmina Watson, a business immigration lawyer in Seattle. Business Insider has verified Watson’s employment history with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m a business immigration lawyer, and in my day-to-day work with clients, I’m seeing immigration disruptions with immediate consequences, including H-1B visa holders who are outside the US being uncertain if they can return.
My law firm, Watson Immigration Law, assists founders and businesses in navigating the employment visa application process. It appears that, at this time, the administration is coordinating the rescheduling and delay of immigration appointments.
Non-immigrant visas generally must be scheduled at a US embassy or consulate in the person’s country of nationality or residence. From my experience, many employees accrue their holiday time and schedule immigration appointments during this period because they’re already planning to leave the country, allowing them to easily visit their designated US embassy or consulate.
These employees are now getting stuck, having already left the US, with their appointments getting rescheduled for June, July, or August 2026, and beyond.
A large group of H-1B work visa holders is stuck outside the country
Major tech companies, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, sent memos out to their employees in the past week, warning visa-holding employees to avoid international travel amid long delays at US consulates. These policies are coming one after another, and they all intersect with each other.
The policies have created:
- Visa-stamping delays at US embassies and consulates.
- Expanded vetting and processing backlogs at consulates.
- Increased risk that visa holders who travel cannot return to the US in a timely fashion.
- Lack of guarantees once appointments are rescheduled.
If somebody is outside the country, what are employers supposed to do? Right now, my advice to clients outside the country is that if they have a valid visa stamp, they should return to the US as soon as possible.
We don’t know what changes could come, but I suggest that workers stuck abroad ask to work remotely
For someone who has left the country to obtain a new visa stamp, I’m not sure there’s a clear path to return. This includes individuals on F-1 student visas who traveled to visit family and were planning to re-enter the US. They will need that visa stamp from a consulate.
Ensure your employment is still active and consider whether remote work is an option. If an employer decides they cannot keep someone on the books, even an appointment months from now will not help if there’s no job waiting.
It’s tough to know how things will unfold. What we’re seeing is a confluence of policies coming in at the same time. For example, the Department of Homeland Security has just announced that it is replacing the lottery system for H-1B work visas, which randomly selects who receives a visa. The system is now set to prioritize higher-paid, higher-skilled workers.
Keeping social media accounts public is a good idea
Social media disclosure is being expanded from F-1 visa holders, which began during the student visa crisis, to now include H-1B workers. These applicants are required to change all social media privacy settings to public.
It could easily expand to other visa categories. The government has not provided clear guidance on what they are reviewing. By casting an overly broad net under the banner of national security, without clear standards or transparency, the administration is creating uncertainty that will ripple across families, employers, and the US economy.
Clients should limit what they post online.
My advice since November 2024 has remained the same: Avoid travel unless necessary
In 2024, I was already anticipating these issues with traveling and returning to the US. We’ve also seen issues affecting green card holders with past criminal convictions.
There are many stories of people who have lived in the US for decades, suddenly facing deportation proceedings. This is a highly precarious time for immigrants, and limiting travel is critical.
It feels like a fire hose of policies. Everyone in the immigrant ecosystem is on high alert: Immigration lawyers, immigrants, employers, investors, founders, and employees.
