United States | State Department expands ‘online presence review’ to include more NIV categories

Today, the State Department announced that, effective March 30, 2026, it will expand the requirement for “online presence review” to include certain nonimmigrant visa (NIV) classifications in addition to other classes already subject to expanded screening and vetting.

Key takeaways:

Additional NIV classifications subject to enhanced screening and vetting. Visa applicants in the following NIV classifications will be subject to “online presence review”: all A-3, C-3 (if a domestic worker), G-5, H-3, H-4 dependents of H-3, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T and U.

Mandatory privacy setting adjustments. Effective March 30, all visa applicants in the identified NIV classifications “are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public’ or ‘open.’”

Expanded scope. The online presence review policy first applied only to students and exchange visitors in the F, M and J nonimmigrant visa classifications. On Dec. 15, 2025, the State Department expanded the requirement for “online presence review” to include all H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents.

Additional information: BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group.

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