India, Dec. 23 -- H-1B applicants are confronted with a difficult year ahead as the political resistance to these visas is strengthened by a series of actions from the US administration.

On Monday, the US Embassy in India announced that beginning December 15, the United States has "expanded" online presence reviews to encompass all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of the standard visa screening process. This vetting is being implemented globally for "all applicants of all nationalities" within these two visa categories.

The embassy's statement comes at a time when pre-scheduled interviews for thousands of H-1B visa applicants in India, set for later this month, have been unexpectedly postponed by several months.

In light of the challeng...