• The Trump administration intensified H-1B visa vetting for skilled workers.
• Applicants involved in censorship may face rejection.
• New requirements mandate public social media profiles for applicants.
• The changes disproportionately affect Indian tech professionals.
• Consular officers must review employment histories for compliance.

The Trump administration recently announced enhanced vetting for H-1B visa applicants, aimed at identifying individuals involved in “censorship” of free speech as grounds for rejection. This directive was memorialized in a memo disseminated to U.S. diplomatic missions on December 2, mandating a thorough review of applicants' resumes or LinkedIn profiles including those of accompanying family members. H-1B visas are crucial for U.S. tech companies that heavily recruit from countries like India and China, several of which supported Trump during the last presidential election, according to Reuters and Dawn.

According to the memo, U.S. consular officers are instructed to scrutinize employment in sectors associated with “misinformation, disinformation, and content moderation,” among others. If evidence suggests an applicant has engaged in actions that could be defined as censorship, they are to be marked as ineligible under the Immigration and Nationality Act. This unprecedented policy change affects both initial and repeat H-1B visa applicants and their dependents, as reported by India Times and Dawn.

Importantly, the Trump administration requires applicants to adjust their social media settings from private to public. Starting December 15, this will extend to all H-1B and dependent visa applicants, facilitating scrutiny of their online presence. Officials argue that allowing foreigners in the U.S. to engage in censorship undermines American values of free expression, as mentioned in a statement by a State Department spokesperson, according to Reuters and India Times.

This new policy has notable implications for the Indian tech community, which heavily relies on H-1B visas. Stricter vetting means that Indian applicants may face delays and intensified questioning, complicating their chances for approval amid already stringent immigration turbulence. Panic and uncertainty now loom over many families awaiting visa decisions, as highlighted by analyses indicating a significant decline in H-1B approvals for Indian firms contrasted with those of U.S. tech giants, according to India Times.