I am a Singaporean U.S. immigration attorney based in Los Angeles specializing in H-1B1 visas for Singaporeans. My California State Bar record can be found here and my law firm website can be found here. Feel free to connect with me on Linkedin.
Since Election Day is coming up, in this blog post I am writing about 3 potential scenarios impacting H-1B1 cases if Trump is reelected.
Potential Scenario #1 if Trump is Reelected: Discontinuance of Interview Waiver Process
If Trump is reelected, it is very likely that the interview waiver process at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore will be discontinued. I have written about the Interview Waiver process here. You may recall that between 2017 and 2020, during the previous Trump presidential term, there was no interview waiver option available. This will very likely be the scenario again if Trump is reelected.
Potential Scenario #2 if Trump is Reelected: Increase in Visa Appointment Wait Times
Since it is very likely that interview waivers will be discontinued during a second Trump presidency, the natural consequence would be that visa appointment wait times for an in-person H-1B1 visa interview will increase. This is simply because, in the event of non-availability of interview waivers, more in-person interview appointment slots will understandably be taken up.
Having said that, the US Embassy in Singapore has generally done a very good job in keeping things efficient. As such, interview appointment wait times in Singapore might not increase too drastically even if Trump is reelected.
Potential Scenario #3 if Trump is Reelected: Increase in USCIS Issuance of RFEs and Processing Times (for USCIS I-129 petitions)
This potential scenario applies to USCIS Processing of H-1B1 I-129 Petitions in the U.S. Accordingly, this does not apply to H-1B1 visa applications done directly at the U.S. Embassy in Singapore where USCIS is not involved. (I compare USCIS processing versus US Embassy processing in a previous blog post here).
During the previous Trump presidential term, there was a general uptick of Requests for Evidence (RFEs) sent out by USCIS for I-129 petitions involving H-1 cases. Although an RFE does not automatically mean that USCIS will eventually deny a petition, an RFE generally stretches the overall processing time of a USCIS H-1B1 petition, especially since H-1B1 petitions with USCIS currently do not have premium processing (expedite) service available. USCIS presently takes an average of about 2.5 months to process an H-1B1 I-129 petition -- this timeframe will be expanded if USCIS sends out an RFE.
Disclaimer: This blog post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
