Social media screening for H1B visas begins

Washington: The United States has begun screening and vetting the social media accounts of all H1B visa applicants and their dependent H4 visa applicants from Monday, as per an earlier order from the US state department.

The aim of the enhanced screening is to identify applicants who are “inadmissible” to the country, since a US visa is a “privilege, not a right”, the order says, as the Donald Trump-led administration continues its crackdown on immigration.

The H1B visa is issued to foreign employees and is used by American companies to hire talent from outside the country. Notably, Indian nationals are the largest group to benefit from this programme.

Even before the rule took effect, the US Embassy in India had rescheduled many visa interviews, leaving several applicants stranded and affecting their travel plans. “Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate,” the embassy said. Meanwhile, many H1B and H4 holders also saw their visas being “prudentially revoked” even if they merely had a past interaction with law enforcement but no conviction, immigration attorney Emily Neumann said in a post on X. Notably, a prudential visa revocation is a temporary and precautionary step taken as a matter of caution, and it does not amount to a permanent cancellation of the visa.

To allow the SM vetting, the US department has instructed all H1B applicants and their dependents (H4), as well as F, M, and J non-immigrant visa applicants to change the privacy settings on all their social media accounts to “public”.

“The state department uses all available information in visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security or public safety,” it said in the order.