U.S. Embassy & Consulates in India Rescheduling H-1B Appointments Due to New Online Presence Review 

Starting December 8, 2025, U.S. consulates in India, including Hyderabad and Chennai, began issuing notices to H-1B and H-4 visa applicants with interviews scheduled on or after December 15, 2025, informing them that their interviews have been rescheduled to sometime next Spring (March 2026 to May 2026). According to the notices, the reason for the rescheduling is implementation of the new online presence review requirement for H-1B applicants and their H-4 dependents. The new vetting process will reduce the daily interview capacity at consulates. Thus far, biometrics appointments remain unchanged. Further, applicants who cannot attend on the new interview date may reschedule online but are limited to one reschedule opportunity. 

We encourage individuals who were planning to travel abroad for the holidays and needed to apply for a new H visa or initial H visa to check their visa appointment accounts for any rescheduling notice. In addition, individuals should plan for delays of several months if their appointment is ultimately rescheduled once they are abroad. Discuss with your employer the possibility of delays returning to the U.S. and avoid international travel if possible. Finally, while this appears to be limited to U.S. consulates in India for now, it is possible that U.S. consulates in other countries will follow suit. 

USCIS Reduces Maximum Validity Periods of Certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) 

On December 4, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its Policy Manual to reduce the maximum validity period for Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) for certain categories of applicants. According to USCIS, the reduced validity period will ensure frequent vetting of applicants to deter fraud and detect applicants with potentially harmful intent. The maximum validity period for initial and renewal EADs was reduced from 5 years to 18 months for the following categories: applicants with pending adjustment of status applications, refugees, asylees, applicants granted withholding of removal, applicants with pending asylum or withholding of removal applications, and applicants with pending applications for relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act. All employment authorization applications filed under one of these categories pending or filed on or after December 5, 2025, will be subject to the new 18-month validity period. 

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Establishes New Center to Strengthen Immigration Screening and Target Bad Actors 

On December 5, 2025, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced the establishment of the USCIS Vetting Center, to be headquartered in Atlanta. The new Center will centralize the enhanced vetting of foreign nationals with the goal of screening out “terrorists, criminal aliens, and other foreign nationals who pose potential threats to public safety or who have committed fraud or other crimes.” Using artificial intelligence (AI), the Vetting Center will be responsible for conducting thorough reviews of pending applications as well as conducting a more holistic review of already-approved applications. Applications filed by nationals from countries deemed of concern by the President will be prioritized. 

U.S. Supreme Court To Review Trump’s Birthright Executive Order 

On December 5, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the constitutionality of President Trump’s executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, after lower courts unanimously found the order to contradict the U.S. Constitution and federal law. The justices will hear oral arguments next Spring and issue a decision most likely by next summer. Although birthright citizenship has been a long-standing right for over a century, the Supreme Court’s current right-wing majority is concerning for the survival of this fundamental right in the United States. 

US Veterans Affairs to Share Immigration Data About Its Non-Citizen Workers 

According to reporting by The Guardian, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is creating a new internal database of non-U.S. citizens who are employed or affiliated with the department. A VA spokesperson confirmed that the department would share some data it is now gathering with other federal agencies, including for immigration enforcement. VA offices have been asked to turn over data on non-citizen full-time and part-time employees, contractors, health professional trainees, and volunteers with the VA. Among the non-citizens working or affiliated with the VA are legal permanent residents and visa holders performing critical services for the United States, such as doctors and nurses working in VA clinics and foreign-national scientists working on medical research for the department. 

This move is President Trump’s latest effort to increase data-sharing between federal agencies to further his immigration enforcement priorities. Thus far, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have announced data-sharing agreements with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

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