On December 21, 2025, the landscape for foreign professionals working in the United States took a dramatic turn. Tech giants Apple and Google, two of the world’s largest employers of skilled international workers, issued urgent advisories to employees on temporary US work visas: avoid international travel, or risk being stranded abroad for months on end. The warnings, first reported by Business Insider and echoed by Reuters, IBTimes, and NPR, reflect a perfect storm of policy changes, bureaucratic backlogs, and personal anxieties now facing tens of thousands of workers and their families.
The heart of the issue? Visa stamping delays at US embassies and consulates worldwide have ballooned, with appointment wait times stretching up to 12 months—or even longer in some cases. According to internal memos circulated by Apple and Google’s legal teams, these delays are a direct result of a series of immigration policy shifts introduced by the Trump administration. Among the most consequential: expanded vetting requirements, including mandatory reviews of the past five years of visa applicants’ social media activity, effective December 15, 2025.
For employees on H-1B, H-4, F, J, and M visas—a group that includes highly skilled tech workers, spouses, and students—the new reality is unsettling. “We recommend avoiding international travel at this time as you risk an extended stay outside of the US,” warned Berry Appleman & Leiden, the law firm working with Google, in a memo reviewed by NPR and IBTimes. Apple’s legal representative, Fragomen, issued a similar caution: “Given the recent updates and the possibility of unpredictable, extended delays when returning to the US, we strongly recommend that employees without a valid H-1B visa stamp avoid international travel for now. If travel cannot be postponed, employees should connect with Apple Immigration and Fragomen in advance to discuss the risks.”
Visa stamping—the process of securing a new endorsement in one’s passport at a US embassy or consulate before re-entering the country—has always been a routine, if sometimes stressful, requirement for non-immigrant workers. But in 2025, what was once a predictable process has become a logistical minefield. According to reports from The Economic Times and The Washington Post, some visa applicants have seen their appointments rescheduled as late as June 2026 or beyond. In India, hundreds of H-1B holders traveling home for renewals found themselves facing postponed appointments and uncertain return dates, as the State Department insisted on more time to “ensure that no applicants pose a threat to US national security or public safety.”
The delays are not just a matter of bureaucratic inconvenience. They carry real and immediate consequences for workers and their families. Routine trips to visit relatives, attend weddings, or handle emergencies now come with the risk of months-long separations and, in the worst cases, job loss. H-4 spouses—who often rely on their visa status for work eligibility—face the threat of losing employment if their renewal is delayed. International students on F-1 or J-1 visas could miss academic terms, derailing their education. “The unpredictable visa stamping process in 2025 has caused personal and professional impacts including job risks, loss of work eligibility for H-4 spouses, missed academic terms for students, and extended family separations,” Business Insider summarized.
Behind the scenes, the sources of these delays are both technical and political. The Department of Homeland Security’s new rules require consular officers to comb through years of applicants’ social media posts, adding hours—sometimes days—to each case. The so-called “Dropbox” waiver, which previously allowed many applicants to skip in-person interviews, has been largely eliminated. As a result, nearly everyone must now secure a coveted appointment slot, and those slots are vanishingly scarce. Even after the interview, additional background checks can drag out the process further, with minor infractions—such as traffic violations or questionable online posts—potentially triggering outright refusals or revocations.
The US Department of State, for its part, has defended the new approach. A spokesperson told Business Insider, “While in the past, the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world ... are now prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else.” The agency said it may adjust appointments as resources allow and noted that impacted applicants can seek expedited appointments on an individual basis, though these are granted sparingly.
For Apple and Google, the stakes are particularly high. Together, the two companies employ more than 300,000 people worldwide and rely heavily on the H-1B program to fill critical technical roles. The H-1B, which typically lasts three years, requires renewal at a US embassy or consulate in the worker’s home country. In 2025, the Trump administration introduced a $100,000 fee for each new H-1B application, adding a significant financial burden for employers. The heightened scrutiny and growing appointment backlogs were enough to prompt the companies’ warnings, urging staff to remain in the US unless travel is absolutely essential.
The human toll is growing. At Google, the Alphabet Workers’ Union has been campaigning for additional protections for H-1B holders, who are particularly vulnerable if layoffs occur. “The need to support H-1B holders at Google has only become more urgent with all the scrutiny and heightened vetting by the Trump administration around the H-1B program, and how the administration is coming for all other types of immigrant workers,” said Parul Koul, a software engineer and union leader, in an interview with NPR.
Legal experts and immigration attorneys have scrambled to provide guidance. Their advice is blunt: avoid international travel if visa stamping is required, plan months ahead, complete all forms and payments as early as possible, and monitor embassy and consulate updates obsessively. They also recommend reviewing social media and legal documents for consistency, and, if necessary, disclosing any prior arrests or charges to legal counsel before applying. “Careful planning is essential to avoid being stranded abroad,” Berry Appleman & Leiden cautioned.
For now, the message from America’s biggest tech employers is clear: stay put, stay prepared, and hope for a return to predictability. As embassies and consulates worldwide struggle to balance thorough vetting with the practical needs of global workers, the uncertainty facing international employees shows no sign of abating. The next few months will be a test of resilience—for individuals, companies, and the US immigration system itself.
