Google warns some visa employees not to leave the US due to 'significant' return delays of up to a year
Story by hlangley@businessinsider.com (Hugh Langley,Pranav Dixit,Melia Russell), Business Insider, December 20, 2025
- Google has advised some employees holding visas not to travel outside the US, per a memo viewed by Business Insider.
- The company's law firm recommended staff who need their visas stamped for re-entry stay in place.
- A social media screening requirement for visas is causing appointment delays stretching for months.
Google has advised some employees on visas not to travel outside the US due to delays at embassies, Business Insider has learned.
American consulates and embassies around the world are seeing delays with routine visa appointments following the introduction of a new social media screening requirement, which applies to H-1B visa workers and their dependents, as well as students and exchange visitors.
On Friday, a spokesperson for the Department of State told Business Insider it was conducting "online presence reviews for applicants." The department said it may move appointments as resources change, with applicants able to request expedited slots on a case-by-case basis.
"While in the past the emphasis may have been on processing cases quickly and reducing wait times, our embassies and consulates around the world, including in India, are now prioritizing thoroughly vetting each visa case above all else," the State Department spokesperson said. Appointments in Ireland and Vietnam have also been postponed, according to immigration firm Reddy Neumann Brown PC.
Google's lawyers said in the memo that the delays were affecting H-1B, H-4, F, J, and M visas. The advisory did not specify what anyone on a visa already outside the country with a postponed appointment should do.
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Under the Trump administration, the program has become a political flash point, with the White House framing H-1Bs as a threat to American jobs and rolling out measures that critics and employers say make it harder and more expensive to hire new workers.
Google warns some visa employees not to leave the US due to 'significant' return delays of up to a year |
