Indians face more US visa refusals on social media scrutiny

Indians have increasingly faced temporary US visa refusals over the past year, as social media vetting and enhanced scrutiny over prior arrests hold up application processing in the biggest revenue-generating market for the country’s $280-billion outsourcing industry. Applicants have lately received the 221 (g) notifications indicating temporary visa refusal as Washington tightened visa norms after Donald Trump took office in January 2025.

Indians made up more than 70% of the total H-1B visas issued in FY24, data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and are among the most affected by stricter border controls stateside. The section 221(g) under the US Immigration and Nationality Act refers to temporary refusal of visa or putting an application on hold to give the consular officers time to verify and do background checks before they make a decision.

Such notifications are not new for H-1B or student visa applications. However, immigration experts pointed out that applications that do not require 221(g) are increasingly put on hold. Joel Yanovich, Attorney, Murthy Law Firm, said, “We probably are seeing a higher rate of 221(g) notices. While it’s difficult to quantify, the anecdotal evidence suggests that more people are running into further delays, even after getting in for an appointment.”


Lacks precedent

Gnanamookan Senthurjothi, founder, the Visa Code, said that there are two categories of 221 (g) denials under the current Trump regime, and these were not heard of previously. “Since May 2025, we have seen applicants with prior arrest records, which are over a decade old, getting 221 (g).

This is despite multiple stampings they have done before,” he said. In many cases, even those who have valid documents are seeing their visa revoked and given 221 (g) for further processing. “There are hundreds of Indians stuck in India because of this,” he told ET.

Xiao Wang, founder, Boundless Immigration, said that many applicants are also beginning to receive emails saying their visas have been “prudentially revoked” without any clarifications from the Department of State. They are also seeing increased demand for biometric requests for H-1B visa processing, which was not the case earlier.

“All applications are now taking longer for officers to evaluate, slowing down the entire process. Now that they have to do detailed social media vetting and put every case under additional scrutiny and judgment, each case is taking more time, resulting in longer delays for all applications,” he said.

Many of the rescheduled appointments are now seeing further delays as well. “We saw mass cancellations of appointments in early December, when many had already departed the US. These appointments were rescheduled initially for March and April but then some were being pushed out as far as November,” Wang pointed out.

The road ahead

Senthurjothi, who was cited earlier, said after months of silence, individuals that received 221 (g) notifications are being asked to file further documents such as toxicology reports, police records and other related documentation. While the processing is further delayed, he pointed out that this is progress. However, this still affects hundreds of Indians.