New State Department Screening Sparks Months-Long Delays for H-1B and H-4 Visa Applicants

Takeaways

• The State Department is now conducting online presence and social media reviews for H-1B, H-4, F, M, and J visa applicants, resulting in significant processing delays.
• U.S. consulates are rescheduling previously confirmed interviews, with many pushed into spring and even summer 2026.
• Applicants already abroad risk being stranded if prior visas have expired.

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In a move that is already causing significant delays in visa processing, the State Department announced on December 3, 2025, it would be conducting online presence reviews off those applying for H-1B and H-4 visas at U.S. consulates abroad, along with those applying for F (academic student), M (vocational student) and J (exchange visitor) visas in order to identify those who are inadmissible to the United States and/or pose a threat to national security or public safety and instructed them to set their privacy settings on their social media accounts to “public.” This has already resulted in significantly increased visa processing times.

Consulates in India have been sending out notices that interviews scheduled after December 15, 2025, will be rescheduled, with many being pushed to March 2026, and some to June 2026.

The State Department has also advised that those who cannot attend their new interview appointments can reschedule online once. Furthermore, visa application fee receipts older than one year will be considered expired and will not be permitted for use in rescheduling.

This announcement was made with no lead time and has resulted in some individuals with expired visas who are in India for their interviews being stranded there, with no way to return to the U.S. until they are issued new visas.

Additionally, there have also been reports of cancellations/reschedulings in Ireland and Vietnam.

If you have any questions about the information in this alert, please contact Jim Aldrich or your Dykema relationship attorney.