The US’s move to expand social-media scrutiny for H-1B and H-4 visa applicants could strike a severe blow to India’s IT powerhouse. With Indian professionals comprising the overwhelming majority of H-1B holders, this policy threatens to derail careers, stall critical projects, and leave families in limbo.
In a significant tightening of America’s visa-vetting system, the US State Department has announced that all H-1B workers and their H-4 dependents will undergo mandatory social-media screening from December 15 onwards.
Applicants will have to switch their social-media accounts to “public” settings to enable scrutiny.
Immigration experts believe the move marks a major expansion of Washington’s digital footprint policy. Mitch Wexler, senior counsellor at global immigration law firm Fragomen, was quoted as saying by a national daily, “An online presence review has been in place for F, M and J visa applicants (students and exchange visitors) since late June 2025; expansion to include the H-1B and H-4 categories is the first ramp-up of the policy.”
He cautioned that applicants should expect far more intensive review of their posts, interactions and overall digital activity.
According to the State Department, consular officers will review an applicant’s social media profiles, public posts and information available across online platforms and databases.
The Department reiterated that “every visa adjudication is a national security decision” and stressed that a US visa is “a privilege, not a right”.
Internal guidance circulated in June for student visas suggests the parameters officers may rely on. Negative inferences can be drawn if applicants keep portions of their accounts private or have no online presence at all.
Officers are also expected to evaluate whether any content reflects hostility toward US citizens, institutions or culture; support for designated terror groups; attempts to access or misuse sensitive US technology; or a pattern of political activism that could continue after entering the US.
Derogatory or questionable material can lead to follow-up interviews, prolonged background checks or visa refusal.
Wexler warned that the expanded checks would increase the burden on consulates. “The vetting standards also mean that applicants may face an increased likelihood of being flagged for lengthy background checks and longer waits for visa issuance. These factors could mean that H-1B and H-4 visa applicants are delayed in their ability to enter the US.”
This will be a concern for Indians, especially IT professionals, who form the largest H-1B cohort. USCIS data shows that in fiscal year 2024, Indians led all nationalities, securing about 80,500 new H-1B visas, followed by China with just 19,600 such visas.
The latest expansion follows a series of measures over the past year that brought digital behaviours to the forefront of visa screening. When similar rules were introduced for student and exchange-visitor visas, interviews were briefly paused while consulates implemented new screening protocols, prompting concerns about vague ‘hostility indicators’ and inconsistent interpretations.
The heightened scrutiny also comes amid a broader debate in the US over online speech.
According to a news agency, a recent internal cable sent to all US missions on December 2, orders US consular officers to review resumes or LinkedIn profiles of H-1B applicants and family members who would be traveling with them to see if they have worked in areas that include activities such as misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance and online safety, among others.
Industry observes, expressing dismay, said that a country which professes to be a shining beacon of free speech does not appreciate it.
The general sentiment among experts is that the policy to punish H-1B holders involved in censorship in the tech sector appeared to be hypocritical.
The apprehension is that the Trump administration would deny a visa benefit if an executive in a social media H-4 visa company had censored a person or viewpoint they favoured, however politically incorrect, hurtful, it might be.
Understandably, it’s held that the Trump administration would have no compunctions to punish people who had expressed views they disfavour and are considered anti-American.
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