US tightens visa vetting rules
The US is rolling out stricter visa vetting that includes public social media disclosures starting March 30 and is raising H‑1B salary thresholds while adding a roughly $10,000 application fee. Policymakers say the changes will raise the bar for entry‑level foreign hires and shift employer hiring calculus. (indianexpress.com) (deccanchronicle.com)
The State Department’s March 30, 2026 expansion of its online‑presence review lists specific nonimmigrant categories — including A‑3, C‑3 (domestic workers), G‑5, H‑3, H‑4 dependents of H‑3, K‑1/K‑2/K‑3, Q, R‑1/R‑2, S, T, U, H‑1B, H‑4, F, M and J — and instructs applicants in those categories to set social‑media privacy to “public” for consular adjudication. (travel.state.gov) DHS finalized a wage‑weighted H‑1B cap selection rule (published Dec. 29, 2025; effective Feb. 27, 2026) that uses the Department of Labor’s four prevailing‑wage levels (I–IV) to give higher‑paid registrations proportionally greater odds in the FY2027 cap selection. (federalregister.gov) The presidential proclamation that took effect Sept. 21, 2025 imposes a supplemental $100,000 charge on many new H‑1B petitions filed for beneficiaries abroad, and USCIS guidance distinguishes that one‑time fee from in‑U.S. change‑of‑status filings that are generally exempt. (visaverge.com) OpenAI’s recent federal H‑1B filings report research‑scientist base salaries in the $245,000–$685,000 range — compensation bands that, under DHS’s wage‑weighted selection, would materially increase those registrations’ selection probability. (letsdatascience.com) Immigration‑law advisers and firm analyses say employers are already shifting tactics — raising offered wages to target higher DOL levels and evaluating change‑of‑status or in‑country hiring paths to avoid the consular supplemental fee and improve cap odds. (rnlawgroup.com) The supplemental $100,000 fee and the expanded vetting regime are currently the focus of multiple legal challenges and administrative clarifications, leaving consular processing and employer budgeting uncertain through at least the fee’s initial 12‑month window. (lawfirm4immigrants.com)
