India on Friday stated that it has conveyed its concerns to the United States about the cancellation of pre-scheduled interviews of Indian applicants for H-1B visas, adding that both sides were discussing the matter.
Earlier this month, Washington said that it would expand the vetting of social media profiles to applicants for H-1B visas and their dependents from December 15. As a result, interviews of thousands of H-1B visa applicants in India were abruptly postponed by several months.
Some of the applicants, whose visa appointments were scheduled a week after the announcement on the vetting, received emails from the US immigration authorities informing them that their interviews had been pushed to as late as May.
The rescheduling hurt applicants who were previously given appointments after December 15.
H-1B visas allow companies in the US to temporarily employ foreign workers for special occupations.
Over the past few years, Indians have constituted the majority of H-1B visa holders. Indians comprised 72.3% of all H-1B visas issued by the US in the financial year 2022-’23.
On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that it had received several representations from Indian citizens who were facing delays or problems with the rescheduling of their US visa appointments.
Jaiswal noted that visa-related problems pertain to the sovereign domain of a country. However, he said that the problems and concerns of Indians had been flagged to the US, in New Delhi and in Washington. “We hope that these delays and disruptions will be addressed,” he added.
The spokesperson said that there were several persons who had been stranded for an extended period of time because of the scheduling or rescheduling of consular appointments.
“And these have also caused a lot of hardships to their families, to the family life that they have, as also to the education of their children, as you would understand,” Jaiswal said.
He added: “The Government of India remains actively engaged with the US side to address and minimise the disruptions that have been caused to our nationals.”
On December 3, Washington directed all foreign workers applying for H-1B visas and their dependents, who are issued H-4 visas, to keep their social media profiles public for them to be reviewed.
In June, the Donald Trump administration issued similar directions for student visa applicants, stating that the government would conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting”, including of their online presence.
These directions came amid Trump’s intensified crackdown on immigration.
On September 19, Trump had signed an order requiring companies to pay $100,000 for each H-1B worker visa. However, two days after the rule came into effect, his administration clarified that the fee applies only to new applicants and does not affect current holders.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Homeland Security also said it had finalised amendments to regulations governing the H-1B visa selection process to favour workers who are higher-skilled and better-paid.
The new rules would take effect on February 27 and will be applicable for the financial year 2026-’27 registration period. The number of H-1B visas issued annually is limited to 65,000, with an additional 20,000 for US advanced degree holders.
The Trump administration said that replacing the lottery system of granting the visa with a process that gives greater weight to persons with higher skills will “better protect the wages, working conditions and job opportunities for American workers”.
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