Watch What You Post on Social Media

Thinking about applying for a U.S. Visa?  The content of your social media posts can now affect your U.S. visa applications for up to 5 years down the road. The U.S. State Department has gone ahead with implementing social media screening, which it had proposed last year. The affected forms are DS-160, which is for temporary nonimmigrant travel and K visas (fiancé), and the DS-260, which is for those intending to immigrate to America as a Permanent Resident. Both are filled out online through the State Department government website and must be done before a visa can be issued at a consulate. 

The forms have been updated with a section requiring a list of social media platforms that the applicant had used in the past 5 years. The form has a drop-down menu of most popular social media platforms to select from, and may later expand to include others. The applicant must choose every platform they had used in the last 5 years and list their username for each platform. The user account and its history will then be reviewed by the State Department, affecting whether a visa is issued.

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The current list of social media is as follows:

• Ask.FM
• Douban
• Facebook
• Flickr
• Google+
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• Myspace
• Pinterest
• QZone(QQ)
• REDDIT
• SINA WEIBO
• TENCENT WEIBO
• TUMBLR
• TWITTER
• TWOO
• VINE
• VKONTAKTE (VK)
• YOUKU
• YOUTUBE
• NONE

Most of these social media are American companies with a few of them based in China. Applicants do have the option to specify that they do not use social media. However, lying on a visa application is fraud and has heavy consequences. Applicants are put in a tough spot -- they must give up their personal information and history through social media if they want to travel to the United States.

This change follows President Trump's "extreme vetting" executive order on immigration policy. Many foreign nationals have already been discouraged from traveling to America, including students and those doing business. For example, there has been a 2.7% decline in the total number of international students studying in the US at all levels from March 2018 to March 2019, according to USICE data. Tightened vetting, restrictions, and requirements in many areas of immigration procedure has turned these people away to places like Canada, Australia, etc. This social media update will likely further this trend as many foreigners choose their privacy over entry to the United States.