The Donald Trump administration has ordered a major overhaul of the vetting process for foreign nationals applying for H-1B work visas, with heightened scrutiny placed on applicants linked to technology, social media and content oversight roles.
The directive, contained in an internal U.S. State Department memo issued on December 2 and circulated to all U.S. diplomatic missions, instructs consular officers to carry out detailed reviews of applicants’ resumes and online profiles. The checks also extend to accompanying family members, aimed at identifying any prior involvement in misinformation, disinformation, content moderation, fact-checking, compliance or online safety work.
Under the memo, consular officers are told: “If you uncover evidence an applicant was responsible for, or complicit in, censorship or attempted censorship of protected expression in the United States, you should pursue a finding that the applicant is ineligible,” relying on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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Although the new policy technically applies to all visa categories, the memo specifically singles out H-1B beneficiaries for “heightened review”, citing the heavy concentration of tech-sector workers under the programme. Many of these roles involve functions connected to online safety, content moderation and digital compliance at social media and financial services firms.
The directive applies to both first-time and returning H-1B visa holders. Consular officers are now required to more closely examine applicants’ past employment history, including their social media footprints and other public records, to ensure they were not involved in suppressing legally protected speech.
In a statement, a State Department spokesperson said the new measures reflect the administration’s position that “we do not support aliens coming to the United States to work as censors muzzling Americans.” The spokesperson, however, declined to comment directly on the internal document, which has been described as a leaked memo.
The new order marks another tightening of U.S. immigration controls under the Trump administration and is expected to have significant implications for technology firms and other companies that rely heavily on skilled foreign labour under the H-1B programme.
