Washington: The U.S. government announced stricter screening measures for H-1B visa applicants, introducing new checks that will scrutinise whether individuals were involved in any form of “censorship” of protected speech, Reuters reported.

The H-1B programme, which allows American companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers, remains vital for major U.S. tech firms, many of which rely heavily on talent from India and China. Several leaders of these companies backed Donald Trump in the last presidential election.

According to an internal State Department cable accessed by Reuters, all U.S. missions were instructed on December 2 to conduct deeper background reviews of H-1B applicants and their accompanying family members. Consular officers have been directed to examine résumés and Lin

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