United States H-1B and H-4 visa holders have received emails from consulates informing them that their temporary working visas have been “prudentially revoked”.
The development comes as H-1B visa interviews
in India were postponed and as the US began scrutiny of social media accounts of applicants, a check that was previously limited to international students looking to study in the US.
It should be noted that prudential visa revocation is a temporary, precautionary action taken out of prudence, and not a permanent denial of the visa.
The Trump administration on Sunday said that starting December 15 H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents in the US will undergo enhanced screening and social media vetting.
The US State Department issued a new order directing all H-1B applicants and their H-4 dependent visa holders to make their social media profiles public for review during the vetting process.
