Public profiles must for H-1B, H-4 visas, says new Trump administration order

The United States government has widened its screening regime for H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents, directing them to keep all social media accounts publicly accessible for inspection.

In a notification issued on Wednesday, the State Department said that from 15 December officials will examine the online presence of everyone applying for H-1B and H-4 visas. Students and exchange visitors were already subject to these checks, which will now cover a much larger category of foreign workers.

“To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for H-1B and their dependents (H-4), F, M, and J non-immigrant visas are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public’,” the department said.

Emphasising that a visa is a privilege rather than a right, the statement noted that visa decisions are made with national security in mind and that all available information will be used to screen applicants.

“Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the department said, adding that the US “must be vigilant” to ensure applicants do not pose a threat and that they intend to comply with the terms of their stay.

The directive forms part of a series of tightening measures under the Trump administration, which has pledged to clamp down on misuse of visa programmes. The H-1B route is widely used by US technology firms to recruit foreign talent, and Indian workers, including IT professionals and doctors, make up one of the biggest groups of beneficiaries.

In September, President Donald Trump issued an order imposing a one-time fee of USD 100,000 on new H-1B visas, a move that could substantially raise costs for those seeking temporary work in the United States.

Separately, Washington has halted processing of Green Card, citizenship and other immigration applications for nationals of 19 “countries of concern”, following the shooting of two National Guard members by an Afghan national. A policy memo issued on Tuesday instructed US Citizenship and Immigration Services to suspend all asylum applications immediately, pending a broader review.

The pause covers all immigration applications from nationals of Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela and Yemen. According to the directive, cases will remain on hold “pending a comprehensive review, regardless of entry date”.

The policy shift follows an attack that left US Army specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, fatally wounded, while US Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. The alleged gunman, named as 29-year-old Lakanwal, entered the country under ‘Operation Allies Welcome’, a post-Taliban programme to resettle Afghan nationals in the United States.

With PTI inputs