US changes procedures for work visas

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.

“These people can stay as long as they want. They can leave when they want,” Mr Boucher said. “But when they come back, instead of getting a visa here in advance, they will have to get one overseas at one of our embassies and consulates and then come back.”

Diplomatic or official visas will continue to be processed in Washington and New York, the department said.

The primary beneficiaries of the service in the US have been foreign workers in computer and technology industries.

Mr Boucher said almost 50% of the applicants have been from India. Other nationalities in the top five are British, Japanese, Chinese, and South Koreans.