Social media vetting: US asks visa applicants to list usernames, handles of platforms used

Outlining each visa adjudication as a "national security decision", the US has asked applicants to share their social media usernames or handles of each platform they have used in the last five years.

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The US Embassy in India shared the information in a brief statement issued on Thursday, which also cautioned against "omitting" social media information as it could lead to "visa denial and ineligibility for future visas".

The statement which was posted on X read, "Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used for the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit."

The communication continued, "Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas."

On June 23, the US Embassy asked those applying for an F, M or J non-immigrant visa to switch the privacy settings of their social media accounts to "public" to facilitate vetting which, it said, was necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the US under law.

The embassy had also said that since 2019, the US has required visa applicants to provide "social media identifiers" on immigrant and non-immigrant visa application forms.

F or M category is for student visas and J category for exchange visitor visa.

In Thursday's communication, the embassy also attached two related digital posters.

"Every US visa adjudication is a national security decision," read the caption on the top of a poster followed by a note.

The note read, "The United States requires visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on visa application forms. We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting."

It comes against the backdrop of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration in California's Los Angeles recently.