Appointments halted! New US social media vetting policy leaves H-1B visa holders stranded in India
Hundreds of H-1B visa holders remain stranded in India after the US State Department implemented a new social media vetting policy, leading to the rescheduling and suspension of consular appointments. The delays have raised concerns among workers, law firms, and employers over prolonged uncertainty and employment disruptions.
New Delhi: Several H-1B visa holders are worried as they remain stranded in India amid the rollout of the US State Department’s new social media vetting policy. Many visa applicants are facing difficulties after their consular appointments were rescheduled to next year.
According to reports, interviews scheduled for mid to late December have been pushed to March next year. Multiple leading law firms stated that they have hundreds of clients stranded in India due to the delays.
"This is the biggest mess we have seen. I’m not sure there is a plan,” immigration attorney Veena Vijay Ananth told The Washington Post.
In a separate incident, a man residing in the Detroit suburbs was stranded in India after travelling to attend a wedding. The NRI reportedly had consular appointments scheduled for December 17 and 23, which have now expired. Experts have expressed concern over how long employers will be willing to wait for employees who are unable to return to the US.
The US State Department, in a statement, said the interviews were delayed due to the implementation of the social media vetting policy, which aims to ensure that no visa applicant poses a threat to US national security.
What did the US Embassy say?
The US Embassy in India, in an advisory issued on December 9, cautioned visa applicants against arriving at consulates on their previously scheduled interview dates after receiving a rescheduling notice.
"If you have received an email advising that your visa appointment has been rescheduled, Mission India looks forward to assisting you on your new appointment date. Arriving on your previously scheduled appointment date will result in your being denied admittance to the Embassy or Consulate,” the advisory stated. Meanwhile, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reported in April that India accounts for 71 per cent of H-1B visa holders.
US tech giants Google and Apple have also warned employees against travelling abroad, as visa delays could stretch up to 12 months. Google’s external counsel, BAL Immigration Law, in an email, urged affected employees to avoid international travel due to severe appointment backlogs at diplomatic missions and warned them not to "risk an extended stay outside the US.”
US social media vetting policy
The Donald Trump administration initiated an investigation into enhanced screening and vetting procedures for H-1B and dependent H-4 visa applicants, including the scanning of social media accounts. This move came days after the State Department instructed visa applicants to make their social media accounts public.
Students and exchange visitors had earlier faced similar scrutiny, which has now been extended to skilled workers. "Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the State Department said.
The intensified social media screening comes amid a broader inquiry into the H-1B visa programme, the primary immigration pathway for skilled foreign workers, which has come under increased pressure during the Trump administration. In September, US President Donald Trump imposed a one-time $100,000 fee on new H-1B work visas, a move that could significantly impact Indian professionals seeking temporary employment in the US.
Subsequently, the US also halted Green Card, citizenship, and other immigration applications from individuals belonging to 19 ‘countries of concern’, following the shooting of National Guard soldiers by an Afghan national.