America has made major changes in the process for H-1B and H-4 visas. The Donald Trump administration has made social media verification mandatory for H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents. This rule will come into effect from December 15. According to the new rule, applicants will have to change the settings of all their social media profiles to ‘Public’ to ease the verification process.
In an order issued on Wednesday, the US State Department said, to facilitate this investigation, all applicants for H-1B visas and their dependents of H-4, F, M and J non-immigrant visas are directed to set the privacy setting of all their social media profiles to ‘Public’.
The State Department stressed that US visas are ‘a privilege, not a right’ and ‘the decision on every visa is a national security decision.’ The ministry said officials use all available information to determine whether a person poses a threat to the United States.
This decision has raised concerns among Indian professionals. Most of the Indian IT professionals apply for H-1B visa. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Parliament on changes in H-1B visa that it is the right of the host country to investigate visa applicants. He said, issuing visas is the sovereign right of any government. He said that America’s position is clear. According to the US government, the decision on every visa is a national security decision. Jaishankar said the US government intends to investigate the online activities of the applicants.
India has taken up this matter with US officials. Jaishankar said that wherever possible, the Indian Embassy and Consulates intervened and requested the US not to take drastic action on minor violations.
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