Starting today: US government expands screening and vetting for H-1B and dependent H-4 visa applicants; says: Every visa adjudication is a national security …

Following its policy to make US visas stricter, the Trump administration is making the US visa-vetting system tighter. The US State Dept announced recently that all H-1B workers and their H-4 dependents will have to undergo social-media screening. So, starting today (December 15), the US government has expanded its screening and vetting procedures for the applicants of H-1B visa program and their dependent H-4 visas. “As of December 15, the Department will expand the requirement that an online presence review be conducted for all H-1B applicants and their dependents, in addition to the students and exchange visitors already subject to this review. To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for H-1B and their dependents (H-4), F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public,” said US State Department in a press release.