- The US expanded online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 visa applicants globally from December 15
- Applicants are advised to apply early and expect longer visa processing times due to enhanced screening
- Thousands of H-1B visa interviews in India have been postponed by several months amid new vetting measures
The United States has announced that it is "expanding" the online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of its standard visa screening, and the social media vetting is being conducted globally for "all applicants of all nationalities" for the two visa categories. In a brief statement, the US Embassy in India asked applicants to apply "as early as they can" and anticipate additional processing time for these visa classifications.
The statement comes at a time when pre-scheduled interviews of thousands of H-1B visa applicants scheduled for later this month in India are being abruptly postponed by several months.
"WORLDWIDE ALERT FOR H-1B AND H-4 VISA APPLICANTS. Beginning December 15, the Department of State expanded online presence reviews to ALL H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening. This vetting is being conducted globally for ALL applicants of ALL nationalities for H1-B and H-4 visas (sic)," the US Embassy said in a post on X.
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Amid the hardship faced by many of these visa applicants, the embassy said the move was being implemented as an effort to address abuse of the H-1B programme while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers.
"US embassies and consulates continue to accept and process H-1B and H-4 non-immigrant visa applications. We encourage applicants to apply as early as they can and anticipate additional processing time for these visa classifications," it added.
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Significance of the H-1B Visa for Indian Professionals
The H-1B visa programme is used extensively by American technology companies to employ foreign workers. Indian professionals, including technology workers and physicians, form one of the largest groups of H-1B visa holders.
The brief statement also comes at a time when the US has launched a crackdown to check abuse of the H-1B visa programme, as well as illegal immigration.
Hundreds of Indian immigrants are facing visa delays due to new US policies. The rescheduling of interviews is for all applicants who were previously scheduled from December 15 onwards. The mass cancellation of scheduled interviews for H-1B visa applicants, in view of the enhanced vetting measures, is set to result in significant delays in their return to the US.
A large number of applicants have already arrived in India and are now unable to return to the US since they don't have a valid H1B visa to travel back to the US for their jobs. For example, those whose interviews were scheduled for December 15 had received emails postponing the date to sometime in March. Applicants whose appointments were scheduled for December 19 were given new dates in late May.
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America's Visa Warnings
The US Embassy, through many posts on X in the past several months, has underlined that a US visa is "a privilege, not a right."
On June 19, it wrote in a post, "A US visa is a privilege, not a right. US visa screening does not stop after a visa is issued – and we may revoke your visa if you break the law."
On June 23, the US Embassy had asked those applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa to switch the privacy settings of their social media accounts to "public" to facilitate vetting, which it said was necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the US under law.
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh had on December 18 said that the US Administration has recently announced that every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The US has also clarified that a US visa is a privilege, not a right, he said.
"As part of the follow-up measures, the US Administration (through notifications dated June 18 and December 3, respectively) has expanded screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States.
"This is applicable for student and exchange visitor applicants, the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications, as well as H-1B applicants and their dependents (H4 visa applicants), further impacting visa appointment schedules," the MoS had said.
