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
A group of 60 US lawmakers urged Biden to revoke a Trump administration policy and extend validity of work authorisation documents for H4 visa holders, who are spouses of those possessing H-1B visas
Jaishankar said the ability of spouses to work was introduced in 2015 and Indians today account for 93% of the total number of visas issued in this category
The move to end the rule could have an impact on more than 70,000 H-4 visas holders, who have work permits