India flags concern to the US over cancellation of H1B visa interviews
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said it has flagged its concerns to the US over cancellation of pre-scheduled H1B visa interviews of large numbers of Indian applicants and that both sides are engaged on the issue.
The government has received several representations from Indian nationals who are facing problems with the rescheduling of their visa appointments, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the weekly media briefing.
From December 15, the US expanded the vetting of social media accounts to all H-1B visa applicants as well as their dependents. “In every visa case, we will take the time necessary to ensure an applicant does not pose a risk to the safety and security of the United States and that he or she has credibly established his or her eligibility for the visa sought, including that the applicant intends to engage in activities consistent with the terms of admission. The Department of State regularly shifts appointments as needed to match resource availability,” the US Embassy spokesperson said.
This social media scrutiny of applications comes three months after the US administration led by President Donald Trump increased the fee for new H-1B applicants to about US $100,000 (about Rs 89.8 lakh) from about $2,000-$5,000, depending on employer size and other costs.
Visa-related issues pertain to the sovereign domain of any country, Jaiswal said, adding: “We have flagged these issues and our concerns to the US side, both here in New Delhi and in Washington DC.” He said several Indians have been stranded for extended periods of time in India causing a lot of “hardships” to them and their families.
Interviews of thousands of H-1B visa applicants slated from the middle of December in India have been abruptly postponed by several months to scrutinise their social media posts and online profiles. Some of the applicants, whose visa appointments were scheduled last week, received emails from US immigration authorities informing that their interviews are being pushed back as late as May next year.
“The government of India remains actively engaged with the US side to minimise the disruptions caused to our nationals,” Jaiswal said.
Most of the applicants were already in India and are now unable to return to the US, pending their new interview dates, since they don’t have a valid H1B visa.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration announced sweeping changes to the H-1B work visa selection process, replacing the long-standing random lottery with a weighted system that prioritises higher-skilled and higher-paid foreign workers. This is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to overhaul the H-1B system, which has been a flashpoint in US immigration and labour policy debates for years.
