India, Dec. 22 -- The US on Monday said that the Department of State has expanded online presence reviews to all H-1B and H-4 applicants as part of standard visa screening.

"This vetting is being conducted globally for ALL applicants of ALL nationalities for H1-B and H-4 visas. It is an effort to address abuse of the H-1B program while still permitting companies to hire the best of the best temporary foreign workers," it said in a worldwide alert on Monday.

It further said that the US embassies and consulates will continue to accept and process H-1B and H-4 nonimmigrant visa applications. "We encourage applicants to apply as early as they can and anticipate additional processing time for these visa classifications," it said.

This move ...