US begins social media screening of H-1B applicants

The Trump administration's expanded social media vetting for all H-1B and H-4 dependent visa applications to the United States came into effect on Monday following an announcement last week.

- Shashank Mattoo

The new “online presence reviews” have been put into place to screen applicants who may pose a national security risk to the United States.

This follows from an announcement in June when the Trump administration announced social media checks for applicants in the F, M and J student and exchange visitor visa categories. The expansion in social media vetting was linked to the rescheduling of a number of visa appointments for H-1B visa holders and H-4 dependent visa holders in India due to “resource availability”.