U.S. businesses impacted by immigration application processing delays are now relying on foreign national employees to function as an offshore workforce, working remotely from their home country. This includes virtual training, transferring employees to non-U.S. branches of the company, and even redoing their overarching remote work policies to accommodate foreign national employees’ inability to reside and work in the U.S. Not all businesses can successfully make these accommodations, and even those that can are experiencing financial burdens as a result from things like foreign government tax policies.
These businesses are no stranger to rapid changes in policy regarding foreign national employees, as the Trump administration was marked by many of these changes. However, certain parts of the visa application process are experiencing unforeseen levels of delay. For example, what was once a few weeks of waiting for a visa applicant’s interview has turned into eight months. This has resulted in the need to revisit internal immigration policies within affected businesses.
An attorney described the added difficulty of technology development when some of the team is located outside of the U.S. As such, in-person collaboration is not possible. While employees have adjusted to the use of tools like Zoom and Slack during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still far from ideal. While some businesses try to request emergency appointments for their foreign national employees’ visa interviews, very few classes of immigrants actually have this option available to them. Additionally, international employees whose visas are set to expire soon must travel abroad to renew their documentation, putting them at risk of getting stuck in a foreign country and unable to return to the U.S.
Businesses that have hired foreign national employees are trying to put up with the delays as much as possible. Despite the negative impact on the business and the U.S. economy at large, there is a reason they hired a non-citizen for the position in the first place.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the State Department have tried alleviating some of these concerns by waiving the in-person interview requirement and allowing some classes of visa applicants to submit their applications via mail. However, these are proving to often be ineffective, as visa applicants cannot get any information regarding the progress of their application and U.S.-based employees cannot travel abroad to check.
A member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated that the way in which these backlogs have increased over recent years is proof that there has been a need for reform for a long time.
If you have questions about your foreign talent, developing an offshore workforce, or other possible alternatives, contact us. We are with you through it all.