Make social media profiles ‘public’ for visa interview, U.S. Embassy tells student applicants

Students, vocational students and exchange visitors from India who are seeking U.S. visas will have to turn their social media profiles into “public” state for establishing their identity and “admissibility” to the United States under U.S. law, the Embassy of the United States announced this week.

The embassy further said that it can not “guarantee” that Indian students who don’t have an appointment already, will get a visa interview slot “this summer”.

“The State Department is committed to protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process. A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. If you already scheduled a student or exchange visitor visa appointment for this summer, please follow the latest guidance on social media settings and visa application procedures,” said the U.S. Embassy in an announcement.

The notification in this regard was “effective immediately” for all individuals applying for an F, M and J non-immigrant visa, which are meant for academic students, vocational students, and exchange visitors, respectively.

“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under U.S. law,” the announcement said.

The announcement echoed recent cases involving several international students in the U.S. academic institutions who were penalised for their remarks about international conflicts, especially the Israel-Palestine war.

“We cannot guarantee that students or exchange visitor visa applicants without an existing appointment will be able to schedule an interview this summer,” the Embassy said.

India and the United States have been in consultation since the arrival of the Trump administration in January about the ways to streamline the issue of visas and citizenship in line with the Trump administration’s election campaign.

With around 3.3 lakh students in U.S. campuses, Indians were the largest community of international students in the U.S., and the changes and the social media profile screening are expected to reflect in the social media behaviour of the students in U.S. campuses.