Immigration News - F-1 visa, H-1B, H-1B visa, H-4 visa, Immigration policy 2025, international students, online presence review, student exchange visa, student visa, student visa screening, United States United States | State Department to expand “online presence review” to H-1B and H-4 visa applicants starting Dec. 15 Share this article LinkedIn Facebook X (Twitter) December 4, 2025 The State Department announced that, effective Dec. 15, 2025, it will expand the requirement for “online presence review” to include all H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents. Key Points: This requirement, introduced by the State Department in June, previously applied only to students and exchange visitors in the F, M and J nonimmigrant visa classifications. The December update instructs all H-1B applicants and their H-4 dependents, F, M and J nonimmigrant visa applicants, to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.” The announcement notes the State Department “uses all available information in visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States … including online presence review of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M and J nonimmigrant classifications.” Additional Information: BAL will continue to monitor related developments and provide updates. This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice Group. Copyright © 2025 Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. All rights reserved. Reprinting or digital redistribution to the public is permitted only with the express written permission of Berry Appleman & Leiden LLP. For inquiries, please contact copyright@bal.com.