Change in US work visa policy

FOREIGNERS with US work visas must reapply for them overseas when they leave the country, the State Department has said.

Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that in the past, foreigners with work visas who returned to their home countries were able to reapply for visas before they left the US.

He said the reason for the switch is that US embassies abroad are better equipped than government offices in the US to interview and fingerprint the growing number of visa applicants.