‘Overstayed in India’: Reddit user says H-1B visa canceled during pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi

A Reddit user who holds an H-1B visa claimed that her passport was stamped “cancelled and withdrawn” during pre-clearance in Abu Dhabi while she was returning to the United States with her husband. Explaining her situation, she said she traveled to India in November to celebrate her daughter’s first birthday and had no issues with H-1B stamping delays because their appointment date was before December 15, 2025, before the visa chaos began. The Reddit user said she and her husband got their visas stamped on December 12, and dates began to be rescheduled en masse. They got tickets to fly to the United States in January and her case was flagged when they arrived in Abu Dhabi for pre-clearance. Her husband was cleared without any questions. The woman recounted the questions she was asked during pre-screening and the possible reasons why she was not allowed to travel further into the United States. The woman was asked how long she had been in India and whether she worked in India. The Reddit user said she spent two months in India for work and vacation. She gets paid time off but works part-time.She was sent for secondary inspection and asked to produce proof that her labor conditions application did not mention working in India. The woman was told she had “overstayed” her stay in India and that it was against U.S. law to be paid while working there for a U.S. company. “They canceled my visa and stamped ‘Cancellation and Withdrawal’ on my passport. I was told that I needed to get my visa stamped again. However, there are currently no visa appointment slots available,” the woman wrote. “My company’s immigration attorney said there is no such provision prohibiting remote working in India while employed by a U.S. company and advised me to stamp it again. But since there are no vacancies, I’m stressed out and don’t know what to do next,” the woman wrote in asking for advice. Hundreds of H-1B workers have been stranded in India since December 2025 when the U.S. State Department began social media censorship, leading to massive rescheduling of visa appointments. Those with appointments in December were rescheduled to April or May 2026. Then all the dates got confused and now the consulate has no date for visa stamping in 2026. While some companies allow Indian H-1B employees to work remotely in India as long as they are stuck in their home country, the legal part of it remains a gray area for most companies and employees.