US Demands Visa Applicants Share Social Media Like It’s Open House Season

KEY POINTS

•On December 15, 2025, the US State Department expanded social media reviews to include H-1B applicants and their dependents.
•Google and Apple advised visa-affected employees against international travel due to embassy delays lasting up to 12 months.
•Trump's administration also imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applicants to prevent perceived exploitation of the system.

Starting December 15, 2025, the hammer dropped on H-1B visa hopefuls who now must throw their social media under the State Department’s magnifying glass. Apple and Google’s legal teams freaked out, warning their visa-holder employees not to travel internationally—or risk up to a 12-month embassy wait sucking their productivity dry. Meanwhile, Trump’s grand master plan to 'protect national security' morphed into demanding applicants from 25 countries spill their digital tea before approval, plus a $100,000 fee for some H-1B newbies. The State Dept insists a US visa is a 'privilege, not a right,' but techies wonder if their Insta selfies are worth the gamble. Legal advice is simple: don’t delete a thing or you'll look dodgy. So yeah—stay put, clean up that timeline, and hope the algorithm of immigration likes you.