H-1B Holders Play Real-Life Limbo: How Low Can Your Visa Go?
KEY POINTS
- â˘Tahmina Watson, a Seattle-based business immigration lawyer, has advised clients since November 2024 to avoid travel due to visa appointment delays.
- â˘Major tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google warned H-1B visa workers against international travel as consulate delays push appointments to mid-2026 or later.
- â˘The U.S. government replaced the H-1B visa lottery with a system favoring higher-paid workers, while expanding social media checks to all visa applicants.
Tahmina Watson, Seattle's beacon in the visa fog, has been advising since November 2024: if you value your freedom (and job), avoid international travel unless you enjoy visas delayed until 2026 or later. Microsoft's, Google's, and Apple's memo drops equal parts warning and existential crisis for H-1B holders stranded like tourists without flight upgrades. The U.S. swapped the H-1B lottery, once a random prize draw, for a 'rich kids first' system prioritizing higher salaries to keep tech glamorous but immigrants sweating. Meanwhile, visa seekers now must host public social media profiles â who knew your Instagram stories could double as national security briefings? Whether you're a green card holder getting the deportation scare of your life or a student visa traveler barred from re-entry without a magic appointment, Watsonâs advice is a polite, well-intentioned sob: come home ASAP or start working remotely, maybe from Timbuktu. Because, in 2025, traveling for a visa is the hottest game of bureaucratic limbo: 'how long can you be stuck outside before HR forgets you exist?'
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Visa holders stranded abroad thanks to appointments rescheduled to the summer of 2026: guess your exit strategy is turning into a permanent vacation with urgent email reminders from Google and Apple spelling doom for your international jog.
US visa appointments delayed so long you could finish a Netflix series twice before your chance to renew even arrives. Spoiler: You still canât return.
Replacing H-1B lotteries with a salary hierarchy sounds like techâs subtle way of saying 'if you can't afford it, you donât get it.' Classy move.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 12/24/2025 | Author: Kaila Yu
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