The US State Department announced on June 18 that it would resume student visa processing with expanded screening and vetting processes.
During the process, the social media and online presence of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications will be examined for content the US believes poses a threat to national security.
All applicants will be required to adjust the privacy settings on their social media profiles to ‘public’.
In May, the Trump administration ordered US embassies worldwide to stop student visa interviews for comprehensive social media screening processes to be implemented.