The US embassy in India has announced a new guideline for those applying for student and exchange visitor visas. The new rules, effective immediately, are applicable to all applicants of F, M, and J non-immigrant visas who will now have to set their social media accounts to public. The move, the embassy said, is aimed at helping U.S. officials verify the identity and eligibility of visa applicants during the security screening process. The US embassy shared this update in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), saying that the change is necessary to “facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under US law.”
“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 post says.
New social media rules for F, M, and J non-immigrant US visa applicants
F, M and J visas are the common types of non-immigrant visas issued by the agency to foreign nationals who wish to study or participate in exchange visitor programs in the US. F visa is typically used by academic students, the M visa by vocational students, and the J visa by exchange visitors, including researchers, scholars, and interns.According to the new rules, Indian students and others planning to study or participate in exchange programs in the US will now need to ensure that their social media profiles are visible to the public before submitting their visa applications.While the US government has earlier required applicants to list their social media handles as part of the visa application processthis new step goes further by asking applicants to remove privacy restrictions, ensuring that officials are able to view their online content more easily.However, officials have not specified how long applicants need to keep their profiles public, but the move signals increasing scrutiny of online behaviour as part of visa vetting.
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