Which companies have brought back in-person interviews?

Google said in June 2025 it would add at least one in-person round (Sundar Pichai on the Lex Fridman podcast, reported by Entrepreneur). McKinsey asks hiring managers to meet candidates in person at least once before an offer, and Cisco added verification steps that may include an in-person component (Wall Street Journal via Entrepreneur and Computerworld, August 2025). In quant, Jane Street's ML engineer intern postings put an on-site after a Zoom screen, and Akuna says all final rounds happen in its Chicago office (postings retrieved 29 October 2026).

Can I attend a job interview in the US on ESTA or a B-1/B-2 visa?

Generally yes, as long as you do no actual work. Immigration lawyers cite USCIS statements that job searching and interviewing are permissible visitor activities (Cyrus Mehta, April 2023). ESTA has cost $40 since 30 September 2025 (Federal Register, August 2025). The officer at the border still judges your intent, so carry the interview invitation and a return ticket.

Can I travel for an onsite interview while on OPT?

Inside the US, yes: a domestic trip involves no border crossing. Leaving the US is different. Study in the States says you are expected to have your EAD in hand to re-enter, and it does not recommend leaving while your OPT application is pending, because USCIS sends requests for evidence only to your US address.

Who pays for travel to an in-person interview?

It depends on the firm. Jane Street's interviewing page says it books everything and covers travel and hotel. Amazon India candidates in a February 2026 r/developersIndia thread said HR offered no travel or hotel money for SDE-1 finals in Hyderabad. Ask in writing before you book anything.

Can I ask for a virtual interview because of my visa?

You can ask, and some programmes are still virtual: Point72's 2028 US Academy internship posting describes an online assessment and virtual one-on-ones. Others are firm about it: Akuna's posting says all final rounds are onsite in Chicago. Asking for the nearest office is usually an easier request than asking for a fully remote loop.

Do I need a visa to fly to London for a final round?

US, Canadian and most European passport holders need a UK ETA, which costs £20 (gov.uk, retrieved October 2026). Attending interviews is a permitted visitor activity under paragraph PA 4(a) of the UK's Appendix Visitor. Nationals who need a UK visa must get a Standard Visitor visa instead.

Blog29 Oct 202611 min readApplr Team

In-Person Interviews 2026: Which Firms Went Back, Visa Rules

Google, McKinsey, Jane Street and Akuna put deciding rounds in a room; Point72 Academy stays virtual. What it means on F-1, OPT, ESTA or a 12-month visa queue.

The remote-only interview loop is over for the round that decides the offer. Google, McKinsey and Cisco added in-person steps in 2025, Jane Street and Akuna put their finals in an office, and in Checkr's 2026 survey of 3,000 US managers, the share using real-time video interviews fell from 55% to 42%. The screens are still on Zoom; the deciding round is moving into a room. If you hold a visa, the risk is no longer the interview. It is the trip, and an F-1, OPT or visitor-visa problem now shows up as a missed final round.

Below: who went back and who did not, why, a situation-by-situation visa table, the mistakes that cost people offers, and what to do this week.

Who went back in person, and who did not

Employer	What happens in person	As of	Who pays travel	Source
Google	At least one in-person round, to check coding fundamentals	June 2025	Not stated publicly	Pichai via Entrepreneur, Aug 2025
McKinsey	At least one in-person meeting before any offer	Since about early 2024	Not stated	WSJ via Entrepreneur, Aug 2025
Cisco	Extra verification and background checks that may include an in-person step	2025	Not stated	Computerworld, Aug 2025
Jane Street (ML engineer intern)	Zoom coding screen, then an on-site with 2-4 technical rounds	Posting updated 21 Oct 2026	Jane Street books travel and hotel	Greenhouse posting; interviewing page
Akuna Capital	All final round interviews onsite at the Chicago office	Posting updated 4 Sep 2026	Not stated	Platform Engineer posting
Amazon India (SDE-1, intern)	Final loop in Hyderabad, coding on paper, no laptops	Feb 2026 (candidate reports)	Candidates said none for SDE-1	r/developersIndia
Point72 Academy (2028 US intern)	Still virtual: online assessment plus virtual one-on-ones	Posting updated 22 Oct 2026	Not applicable	Greenhouse posting

The pattern is the same everywhere it is documented: early screens stay remote, the round that decides moves into an office. Jane Street's ML engineer intern postings spell it out as a Zoom coding interview followed by an on-site. Google's version is one in-person round inside a mostly virtual loop. Amazon India went furthest. In a February 2026 r/developersIndia thread, a candidate who had cleared the online assessment said HR asked them to travel to Hyderabad for the final round, with no virtual option and no travel money. A commenter who had already been through it described three rounds in one day, a bar raiser held separately by video two days later, and coding on paper.

Most firms do not tell you up front. We read 1,300 Greenhouse postings across 12 trading and investment firms on 29 October 2026 (Jane Street, HRT, IMC, Optiver US, Jump, Akuna, DRW, Five Rings, Tower, Point72, Virtu, XTX). Only ten said anything about where candidates interview: two Jane Street ML engineer intern postings and one Akuna posting say on-site, and seven Point72 Academy postings say virtual. Recruiting-coordinator postings at DRW and IMC from October 2026 list both virtual and onsite interviews among the job's duties, which tells you both formats are in use and the posting alone will not tell you which you will get.

Why the deciding round moved

Employers stopped trusting what they see on video. Checkr's survey of 3,000 US managers who hire, fielded 11-16 September 2026 and published on 15 October, found:

60% say AI has made virtual interviews harder to trust, up from 51% in 2025.
40% have interviewed a candidate later found to be using a fake identity, up from 31%.
Use of real-time video interviews fell from 55% to 42%, which Checkr attributes to a broader shift toward in-person rounds.
29% list in-person verification as a budget priority, second only to expanded background checks at 33%.

Greenhouse's 2025 AI in Hiring Report (November 2025, 4,136 respondents in four countries) found that 39% of US hiring managers were running more in-person interviews to verify that candidates are who they claim to be. Stanford economist Nick Bloom, who studies remote work, said on the FT's Economics Show podcast that online coding tests no longer work because candidates can read AI answers aloud, and that some tech firms now hold middle and final rounds in person (Business Insider, 31 July 2026).

Two caveats before you treat a room as a lie detector. A hiring manager on r/managers described catching an onsite candidate wearing smart glasses with a live call running on their phone, so firms still watch for coaching in person. And the in-person round is not replacing AI rounds: Business Insider reported that Google piloted an approved AI assistant for some software interviews in 2026, and Cisco is moving toward project-based exercises built around AI workflows. Most loops now have both kinds of round; our guide to which companies ban AI in interviews covers the AI side.

What it means if you hold a visa

The interview itself is rarely the legal problem. Getting to it is.

Your situation	Can you go?	What you need	The catch
F-1 student in the US, onsite in the US	Yes	Photo ID for the flight	Domestic travel crosses no border; the cost is missed classes
On OPT, application still pending, onsite abroad	Avoid	Nothing will make this safe	Study in the States advises against leaving; USCIS sends requests for evidence only to your US address
On approved OPT, onsite abroad	Possible	EAD in hand, valid visa, recent I-20 travel signature, passport valid 6+ months	An expired visa stamp means a consular appointment in your country of nationality or residence
Outside the US with an ESTA passport (UK, most of the EU, Japan, South Korea)	Yes	ESTA, $40 since 30 Sep 2025	Do no work; carry the invitation and a return ticket
Chinese passport with a 10-year B1/B2 visa	Yes	EVUS enrolment, $30.75 from 1 Jan 2026	Enrol before you book the flight
Indian passport, no visitor visa	Rarely in time	A B1/B2 interview: 6.5-12 months' wait at Indian posts (State Department data, 17 Sep 2026)	Ask for a virtual or regional-office final
National of a travel-ban country, now in the US	Stay put	Ask for a virtual round	Leaving the US brings you under the ban (MIT, Jan 2026)
Candidate flying to London for a final	Yes	UK ETA, £20, for US, Canadian and most European passports	Interviews are a permitted visitor activity (Appendix Visitor PA 4(a)); others need a visitor visa

Three rule changes make the visitor-visa route slower than it was. Since 2 September 2025 most applicants need an in-person consular interview, with a narrow renewal exception for full-validity B1/B2 visas that expired within 12 months. Since 6 September 2025 you must apply in your country of nationality or residence, so the old trick of booking a faster slot in a neighbouring country is gone, and fees paid for third-country appointments are forfeited (Faegre Drinker, September 2025). The $750 expedited B1/B2 appointment, piloted from 1 July to 31 December 2026, was available only at US posts in Mexico when Mintz wrote it up on 29 July 2026.

On the legal question itself: immigration lawyers cite USCIS statements that job searching and interviewing are permissible on a visitor visa, provided you do no actual work (Cyrus Mehta, April 2023). An unpaid trial day that produces work for the firm is a different matter; decline it on a visitor visa.

The travel ban matters more than its headlines suggest. The proclamation that took effect on 1 January 2026 fully bars nationals of 19 countries plus Palestinian Authority document holders, and partially bars 20 more, among them Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. For every partial-ban country except Turkmenistan, the suspended categories include B-1, B-2, F, M and J visas. Nationals already in the US are outside its scope until they leave (MIT International Scholars Office, January 2026). An onsite in London or Toronto is not worth that risk.

The mistakes that cost people offers

Booking a winter trip home before the final-round calendar settles. Akuna's finals happen in Chicago and Jane Street's on-sites happen in its offices. If the invite lands while you are abroad and your visa stamp has expired, you are now waiting for a home-country consular slot.
Assuming there is always a virtual fallback. Point72 Academy is still virtual. Akuna's posting says all final rounds are onsite. Amazon India's candidates were told there was no virtual option.
Leaving the US while OPT is pending to attend a final round abroad. Study in the States says plainly that this is not recommended.
Starting the visitor-visa process after the invite. At 6.5-12 months for a B1/B2 interview at Indian posts, the visa will arrive after the cycle ends.
Paying your own way without asking first. Jane Street covers travel and hotel; Amazon India's SDE-1 candidates said they paid their own way. Ask in writing before you book.
Preparing for the in-person round as if it were a Zoom round. Amazon India's finals were on paper with no laptop. Without your IDE, autocomplete and a second screen, you need to write code by hand and explain it out loud.

What to do this week

Ask your recruiter three questions in writing: which rounds are in person, which office hosts the final, and who books and pays for travel. If your visa limits travel, ask about the nearest office before you ask for a fully remote loop.
Check your documents today: passport validity (six months beyond travel), visa stamp expiry, EAD card and I-20 travel signature. Put every expiry date in your calendar against the deadlines on the New Grad 2027 tracker.
If you are outside the US and need a B1/B2 visa, book the appointment now, before you have an invite. EVUS (China) and ESTA renewals take minutes; a first-time B1/B2 at an Indian post can take most of a year.
Rehearse the format you will face: coding on a whiteboard or paper, talking through your reasoning to someone in the room. Applr's mock interviews follow each company's loop: try the Jane Street software engineer mock, the Google L3 mock or the Akuna quant trader mock, then repeat the same problems by hand with a timer.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Which companies have brought back in-person interviews?: Google said in June 2025 it would add at least one in-person round (Sundar Pichai on the Lex Fridman podcast, reported by Entrepreneur). McKinsey asks hiring managers to meet candidates in person at least once before an offer, and Cisco added verification steps that may include an in-person component (Wall Street Journal via Entrepreneur and Computerworld, August 2025). In quant, Jane Street's ML engineer intern postings put an on-site after a Zoom screen, and Akuna says all final rounds happen in its Chicago office (postings retrieved 29 October 2026).
Can I attend a job interview in the US on ESTA or a B-1/B-2 visa?: Generally yes, as long as you do no actual work. Immigration lawyers cite USCIS statements that job searching and interviewing are permissible visitor activities (Cyrus Mehta, April 2023). ESTA has cost $40 since 30 September 2025 (Federal Register, August 2025). The officer at the border still judges your intent, so carry the interview invitation and a return ticket.
Can I travel for an onsite interview while on OPT?: Inside the US, yes: a domestic trip involves no border crossing. Leaving the US is different. Study in the States says you are expected to have your EAD in hand to re-enter, and it does not recommend leaving while your OPT application is pending, because USCIS sends requests for evidence only to your US address.
Who pays for travel to an in-person interview?: It depends on the firm. Jane Street's interviewing page says it books everything and covers travel and hotel. Amazon India candidates in a February 2026 r/developersIndia thread said HR offered no travel or hotel money for SDE-1 finals in Hyderabad. Ask in writing before you book anything.
Can I ask for a virtual interview because of my visa?: You can ask, and some programmes are still virtual: Point72's 2028 US Academy internship posting describes an online assessment and virtual one-on-ones. Others are firm about it: Akuna's posting says all final rounds are onsite in Chicago. Asking for the nearest office is usually an easier request than asking for a fully remote loop.
Do I need a visa to fly to London for a final round?: US, Canadian and most European passport holders need a UK ETA, which costs £20 (gov.uk, retrieved October 2026). Attending interviews is a permitted visitor activity under paragraph PA 4(a) of the UK's Appendix Visitor. Nationals who need a UK visa must get a Standard Visitor visa instead.

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