U.S. Visa Posts in India Rescheduling H-1B Appointments Following Implementation of Online Presence Review

Starting December 15, 2025, the Department of State will apply expanded screening and vetting for H-1B and dependent H-4 visa applicants. This expanded vetting had already been put place for F, J, and M visa applicants earlier in 2025. All applicants for H-1B,H-4, F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.” Also, DS160s must be submitted sufficiently in advance for DOS to review and implement the new social media vetting review requirement. 

Additionally, U.S. visa posts in India started mass rescheduling of H-1B and H-4 appointments. There are reports that many interviews originally scheduled on or after December 15, 2025 are being reassigned to dates several months later, some with new appointments in Spring 2026. 

U.S. visa posts are rescheduling due to the Department's implementation of “online presence review” for all H-1B applicants and dependents. This increased vetting time will reduce the number of visa applicants processed each day. Visa applicants are instructed not to appear for their original visa appointment dates, and instead to only appear only on the newly assigned visa appointment date. 

However, applicants’ Visa Application Center (VAC) biometrics appointments remain valid and unaffected. This means there could be a delay of several months between the biometrics appointment and the visa interview. 

Further, rescheduling options are limited. Applicants who cannot attend on the new date are limited to only one opportunity to reschedule online. Fee receipts older than one year are considered expired, and cannot be used to reschedule. 

Individuals who are in the United States should consider canceling international travel. Individuals already outside the United States who must apply for visas should expect significant delays. There is no way to escalate the visa application process or to reschedule other than the normal channels of looking for open appointments, per announcements by Department of State and the consular services in India. 

Announcement on the Department of State’s website (December 3, 2025): https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/announcement-of-expanded-screening-and-vetting-for-h-1b-and-dependent-h-4-visa-applicants.html