United States | State Department to expand “online presence review” to H-1B and H-4 visa applicants starting Dec. 15

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.

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