India, Dec. 5 -- The US government has tightened its vetting process for H-1B visa applicants and their H-4 dependents, introducing mandatory social media screening for all applicants starting December 15.

The new order requires that applicants change their social media profiles to a "public" setting to aid in the screening process.

In an order issued Wednesday, the US state department said, "To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for H-1B and their dependents (H-4), F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas are instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public'."

Emphasising that a US visa is "a privilege and not a right," the department said, "Every visa adjudication is a national security decision."...