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The US Embassy in India on Monday said starting December 15, the United States has "expanded" online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening, and this vetting is being conducted globally for "all applicants of all nationalities" for these two visa categories. The brief statement by the embassy in a post on social media comes amid pre-scheduled interviews of thousands of H-1B visa applicants slated for later this month in India being abruptly postponed by several months. Amid the hardship faced by many of these applicants, the US Embassy here posted on X, "WORLDWIDE ALERT FOR H-1B AND H-4 VISA APPLICANTS Beginning December 15, the Department of State expanded online presence reviews to ALL H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening. This vetting is being conducted globally for ALL applicants of ALL nationalities for H1-B and H-4 visas (sic)." The H-1B visa programme is used extensively by American technology companies to empl
Committing assault, theft or burglary in the United States won't just cause legal issues but could also lead to a visa being revoked and make that person "ineligible" for future US visas, the country's embassy in India has said. The stern warning comes in the backdrop of a viral video purportedly showing an Indian woman being held by police authorities after she allegedly tried to shoplift several items at a high-end store in the US. However, the veracity of the video, widely shared on various social media platforms, could not be independently verified. In a brief statement on Wednesday, the embassy also said America values law and order and expects foreign visitors to follow all US laws. The statement was shared on the X handle of the embassy. "Committing assault, theft, or burglary in the United States won't just cause you legal issues - it could lead to your visa being revoked and make you ineligible for future U.S. visas. The United States values law and order and expects fore
The United States "will not tolerate" those who facilitate illegal and mass immigration to the US, its embassy here said on Monday. In a statement, the US Embassy also said United States has "established new visa restrictions" targeting foreign government officials and others who do so. The statement was shared on the X handle of the embassy. It comes in the backdrop of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration in California's Los Angeles recently. "We will not tolerate those who facilitate illegal and mass immigration to the United States," reads the embassy statment. The US has established "new visa restrictions targeting foreign government officials and others who do so, and the Trump Administration has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations several criminal cartels that facilitate illegal immigration and alien smuggling," it added. "Also, governments that do not facilitate the repatriation of their nationals from the United States face serious consequences,
Delhi Police has registered a case against more than 30 people operating from Punjab, Haryana, and other states into a large-scale visa fraud racket after a complaint by the US Embassy in New Delhi's Chanakyapuri area, an official said on Thursday. According to the FIR registered following the complaint on February 27, the fraudulent activities took place between May and August 2024, where the embassy highlighted 21 alleged instances of conspiracy between agents and applicants to cheat the US government. This case comes at a time when the US government under President Donald Trump has been cracking down on visa fraud and unlawful immigration. The US Embassy named 31 accused, including visa agents and applicants, who were allegedly involved in forging documents such as bank statements, educational certificates, and employment records to obtain US visas. The agents are suspected of submitting fraudulent information on US online visa applications, DS-160s and providing fraudulent ...
The US Consular Team in India processed a record 1.4 million US visas in 2023, which is higher than ever, and has brought down the visitor visa appointment wait times by 75 per cent.The US Embassy and Consulates in India said that Indians now represent one out of every 10 US visa applicants around the world."In 2023, the US Embassy and Consulates in India processed a record-smashing 1.4 million US visas. Demand across all visa classes was unprecedented, with a 60 per cent increase in applications compared to 2022. Indians now represent one out of every ten US visa applicants around the world," the statement read.Visitor visas (B1/B2) have rebounded to represent the second-highest number of applications in the US Mission's history -- over 7,00,000.Process improvements and investments in staffing have brought the appointment wait time for visitor visas down from an average of 1,000 days to only 250 days around the country with minimal wait time in all categories.The US consular team in .