⚖️ Tech Giants warn workers on visas against travel

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Extreme Vetting and the New H-1B Financial Surcharge

The landscape for international talent in the U.S. has undergone a seismic shift this quarter, culminating in emergency travel warnings from tech giants like Google and Apple. In mid-December 2025, the U.S. State Department implemented a new "extreme vetting" protocol requiring H-1B and H-4 applicants to set all social media accounts to public and undergo intensive screening for "online behaviour contrary to U.S. interests." This has resulted in a wave of appointment cancellations at embassies—particularly in India—with new slots stretching into late 2026. This logistical crisis follows a major Presidential Proclamation issued in September 2025 that introduced a $100,000 "supplemental fee" for new H-1B petitions filed for beneficiaries currently outside the U.S. or those requiring consular notification. Law firms BAL and Fragomen are now advising all visa holders who lack a current, valid visa stamp to avoid leaving the U.S. entirely, as a routine trip home could result in an involuntary "stranded" status for 12 months or more.

The Strategic Decoupling of Talent and Travel

For founders, the primary insight is that visa status and re-entry eligibility have officially decoupled. Historically, an approved H-1B petition meant a near-guaranteed visa stamp; today, the petition is merely a ticket to a high-stakes vetting lottery. The $100,000 fee is designed to be a "soft ban" on international hiring, making it economically irrational for most early-stage startups to source new talent from abroad. Furthermore, the expansion of social media screening introduces a "subjectivity risk" where an employee’s past political activism or online comments can trigger "Administrative Processing", effectively a black hole of indefinite delay. In this environment, your international employees are no longer "mobile" assets. They are "localized" assets whose value to your U.S. operations depends entirely on them remaining physically within U.S. borders until their status is either adjusted to Permanent Residency (Green Card) or the geopolitical climate shifts.

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