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yesterday

US Resumes Student Visa Processing With Mandatory Social Media Vetting

Applicants must unlock their social media accounts to allow consular officers to vet potential anti-US content before interviews can be scheduled

Chinese students wait outside the U.S. Embassy for their visa application interviews, in Beijing on May 2, 2012.
Inset: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio poses during a meeting with the Kazakhstan deputy prime minister and foreign minister in the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington, DC on June 12, 2025. Main: An employee checks phones as pro-Palestinian supporters hold picket line outside Columbia University, Tuesday, Sep. 3, 2024, in New York.
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Overview

  • The State Department lifted its suspension on F-1, M-1 and J-1 visa appointments on June 18 by issuing guidance to resume embassy interviews worldwide
  • Consular officers are instructed to review applicants’ entire online presence for hostile attitudes toward US citizens, culture, institutions, antisemitic harassment or support for designated terrorist groups
  • All student and exchange visitor applicants must set their social media profiles to public and risk denial if they refuse, as limited visibility is deemed an attempt to evade screening
  • The new rules require posts to be preserved with screenshots and prioritize expedited interviews for J-1 physicians and students bound for universities where international enrollment is below 15%
  • Civil liberties advocates warn the ideological focus of the vetting could chill legitimate political expression and turn every consular officer into a censor