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SAN FRANCISCO – Tech industry leaders including Google and Apple have issued urgent travel advisories to their foreign employees, warning that increased scrutiny of social media accounts is causing unprecedented delays in U.S. visa processing.
The "SNS Scrutiny" Bottleneck
According to reports by Business Insider on December 20, legal counsel for Google (BAL) and Apple (Fragomen) informed staff that visa stamp appointments at U.S. embassies and consulates are facing backlogs of up to 12 months. The primary driver for this delay is a rigorous new vetting process that requires manual review of applicants’ social media histories and online activities.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the shift in priority. A spokesperson stated that while the department previously focused on reducing wait times, the current mandate prioritizes "thorough vetting" of every visa case over speed, particularly in high-volume regions like India.
Policy Shifts and Economic Barriers
The H-1B visa—a critical tool for Silicon Valley to recruit specialized talent in STEM fields—is at the center of this administrative tightening. While these visas allow for residency and a path to a green card, they have become a focal point for political debate.
Skyrocketing Costs: In September, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation raising the H-1B registration fee from $1,000 to $100,000 (approx. 140 million KRW).
Corporate Impact: Last year alone, Alphabet (Google’s parent company) filed 5,537 H-1B petitions, while Apple filed 3,880. The 100-fold fee increase represents a multi-billion dollar hurdle for the tech industry.
Legal Pushback: The tech-heavy state of California, along with 18 other states, filed a lawsuit on December 12 to block the fee hike, arguing it cripples American innovation.
Advice to Employees
Legal experts warn that employees currently in the U.S. on valid work status but without a physical "visa stamp" in their passport risk being stranded abroad for a year or more if they leave. "We strongly recommend that employees without valid visa stamps defer all non-essential international travel," Apple’s advisory noted.
Context: A New Era of Protectionism
This crackdown reflects a broader shift toward "Buy American, Hire American" policies. Conservative critics argue that the H-1B program has been exploited to replace domestic workers with cheaper foreign labor. However, tech executives maintain that the talent gap in AI and advanced engineering makes foreign recruitment a necessity for global competitiveness.
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