The United States Embassy in India on Monday said starting December 15, the United States has 'expanded' online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening, and this vetting is being conducted globally for 'all applicants of all nationalities' for these two visa categories.
The US has expanded its review of social media and online presence to cover all H-1B speciality occupation workers and their H-4 dependents, the US embassy in India said on December 10.
As of September 2025, the expected time of interview appointments for visitor visa (B-1/B-2) at New Delhi was 12 months, far more than the time at other US consulates in the capital cities of top economies of the world.
To 'protect national interest', US now require all F, M, and Jvisa applicants (students/exchange visitors) to make socialmedia profiles public for nationalsecurity vetting.
The US Embassy has directed all international students aspiring to study in the United States to adjust privacy settings on their social media profiles to 'public' not just while applying for a visa but also during their entire course of study, effective immediately.
Many students are now looking at opportunities in the UK, Australia, and Singapore due to lower cost of living and less interference from the government.
Uncertainty clouds US fall intake as Trump's visa ban on Harvard raises fears of wider policy shifts, pushing Indian students to explore alternative destinations.
Outlining each visa adjudication as a 'national security decision', the United States has asked applicants to share their social media usernames or handles of each platform they have used in the last five years.
Education loan growth is set to halve this fiscal (FY26) because disbursements for the US decelerate following a raft of policy changes there.
Outlining each visa adjudication as a "national security decision", the US has asked applicants to share their social media usernames or handles of each platform they have used in the last five years.
The Trump administration is considering requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting, according to a report in Politico. In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering US embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants. The report noted that if the administration goes ahead with the plan, it could severely slow down the processing of student visas and hurt many universities who rely heavily on foreign students to boost their financial coffers. This move comes days after the Trump administration ordered the Department of Homeland Security to terminate Harvard University's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP) certification, a move that meant Harvard could no longer enroll foreign students.
'Such unpredictability is motivating families to seek destinations with a more stable educational system.'
Trump has partially restricted and limited the entry of nationals from the seven nations: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
As the number of students seeking higher education abroad continues to rise, several countries are implementing new rules. Gaurav Batra, CEO and founder of Infinite Group highlights how these changes will impact Indians who are planning to study abroad.
"We are developing Ayodhya in this Kalyug as Ayodhya was in Treta Yug," he said, referring to mythical times.
The counsel appearing for both the Hindu and Muslim parties expressed confidence over the ongoing mediation proceedings and said they are fully cooperating with the process.
The bench said after perusing the report, if it came to a conclusion that an amicable solution through mediation was not possible, then the apex court would commence day-to-day hearing in the matter from July 25.
The complete judgement delivered by the Supreme Court bench of Justices T S Thakur and F M I Khalifulla on January 22, 2015.
The body has been detected inside the 370-foot-deep coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district,
The US president in the last several weeks has been very critical of China's inability to control the spread of the novel coronavirus within its territory. By Thursday more than 94,000 Americans have died due to the coronavirus and over 1.6 million have tested positive.
Here are some of the reactions to the apex court's decision.
The body of the trapped miner was spotted on January 16 and efforts were on to pull it out of the shaft of the coal mine filled with water.
The bench on October 16 had reserved the judgment after marathon hearing of 40 days.
Sources said the parties have sought settlement under the provisions of The Places of Worship Act, 1991 which provides that no dispute with regard to any mosque or other religious places, which have been constructed after demolition of temples and are existing as in 1947, would be raised in a court of law.
However, the National Disaster Response Force, which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, which started the day-to-day proceedings on August 6 after mediation proceedings failed to find an amicable solution to the vexatious dispute, has revised the deadline for wrapping up the proceedings and has fixed it on October 17.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed attachment proceedings of the properties of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's mother and sister in Mumbai.
The following is the chronology of events related to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute in which, after the Supreme Court verdict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday conducted the 'Bhoomi Pujan' or ground breaking ceremony and laid the foundation stone for the temple's construction.
A Pakistani court on Wednesday issued a notice to former President Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf for allowing US drone attacks in country even as a fresh strike by the Central Intelligence Agency-operated spy plane killed at least five in the restive North Waziristan.
The apex court had on July 11 sought a report on the mediation process and said that a day-to-day hearing might commence from July 25 if the court decides to conclude the mediation proceedings.
In a setback for Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government, the Supreme Court has upheld the appointment of Gujarat Lokayukta Justice R A Mehta by Governor Kamla Beniwal.
The arguments in the matter were the second longest after the landmark Keshvanand Bharti case in 1973 during which the proceedings for propounding the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution continued for 68 days.
The Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir high court on Saturday rejected the request of the state government to spare the services of a sitting judge to probe the death of National Conference worker Syed Mohammad Yousuf. In a letter to the state government, Chief Justice F M Ibrahim Kalifulla expressed the inability to spare a sitting judge as the number of judges was already inadequate and in view of the Supreme Court rulings on the matter, Advocate General Ishaq Qadri said.
The Supreme Court constituted three-member mediation committee, tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement in the decades-old, politically sensitive, Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case, has submitted its interim report in a sealed cover.
The lawyers said the mediation panel's report was leaked to the media and they do not approve the procedures adopted in the process and the suggested compromise formula of withdrawal of the lawsuit.
The apex court requested the committee to inform it by August 1 about the outcome of the proceedings held till July 31.
In further embarrassment to former telecom minister A Raja, the Madras high court on Tuesday suspended from the bar a top lawyer who was allegedly involved in an attempt to influence a judge taking the name of the minister.A division bench comprising Justice F M Ibrahim Khalifulla and Justice M M Sundaresh, said the status of R K Chandramohan, a member and subsequently the chairman of the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Pondichery, shall stand suspended forthwith.
The litigants and their counsels -- altogether over 50 people -- met the three-member mediation panel on the Avadh University premises in Faizabad.
The apex court said the parties in the matter should be ready to start the hearing on the appeals which are before it.
The SC also said that if parties to the case want to amicably resolve the matter through mediation, they can still go ahead with it.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances