Washington/New Delhi: The U.S. Department of State has announced a major expansion of its visa vetting procedures, requiring an online presence review — including scrutiny of publicly available social media accounts — for all H‑1B specialty occupation workers and their dependents in the H‑4 classification.

The policy, effective December 15, 2025, adds to existing procedures already in place for student and exchange visitor visas.

Under the new policy, all applicants in the H‑1B and H‑4 categories will undergo review of their online activity as part of the standard visa screening process. Previously, this level of digital scrutiny applied only to F (academic students), M (vocational students), and J (exchange visitors).

To facilitate the expanded review, the Department has instructed app

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