‘You call Americans the stupidest people’: Indian matchmaking app CEO’s US visa denial sparks controversy

An old social media post of an Indian CEO who was recently denied a US visa has surfaced, in which he claimed there was no proper reason for his rejection. Jasvir Singh is the CEO of artificial intelligence matchmaking app Knot Dating, but he was told that his visa was denied due to his weak ties to India. Singh called the denial illogical as he was an entrepreneur with Indians on his payroll and had no reason not to return to India. But now a 2016 post in which he made scathing comments about President Donald Trump’s election victory is being cited as the real reason for the rejection. “Congratulations America! You successfully proved that Indians are not just the dumbest people in the world,” the CEO wrote in 2016.

“You call Americans the stupidest people in the world… Why do you want to come here and why do we want to take away people who think that about us?” said American political commentator Ryan James Gdaski.

“So he tweeted ten years ago…”

A major debate began as Singh also did not rule out responsibility for his social media comments behind the visa rejection. “So should his tweets from 10 years ago be considered their current position? Because we all know what Vance said about Trump 10 years ago,” one person said. “A friend said next time just delete your tweets about the US and non-residents before your interview and your visa will be approved,” Singh said of the possibility of his social media posts canceling his visa. While social media scrutiny has been expanded to H-1B and H-4 visa holders since December 15, most other visa applicants have been subject to the process since 2019. All tourist or business visa applicants are required to submit their social media usernames with their application. It is unclear whether Singh’s B1/B2 visa was denied due to his past X position, as officials clarified that Singh could not prove sufficient ties to India to ensure that he would return to India.