In a shift for prospective travelers, the U.S. Embassy in Liberia announced on Tuesday that student and certain non-immigrant visa applicants will now be required to make their social media accounts public. This new directive, which aims to strengthen identity verification and bolster national security, signals an intensified scrutiny of applicants’ online footprints.

The U.S. Embassy’s statement outlined that all individuals applying for F (academic students), M (vocational students), and J (exchange visitor) nonimmigrant visas must immediately adjust the privacy settings of all their personal social media accounts to “public.” This measure, the Embassy elaborated, is designed to facilitate comprehensive vetting necessary to establish an applicant’s identity and admissibility under U.S. law. Officials stressed that “each visa adjudication is considered a matter of national security.”

This latest policy expands upon existing regulations implemented since 2019, which already mandated visa applicants to provide their social media identifiers, such as usernames or handles, for every platform used over the preceding five years. The new announcement clarifies that these profiles must now be fully accessible throughout the visa application process. Non-compliance or the omission of social media information could result in visa denial and potential ineligibility for future visa applications.

The U.S. Department of State had previously issued guidelines for expanded screening and vetting across its global consular services, with the U.S. Embassy in Liberia’s announcement aligning with this broader updated policy. Officials indicate that the thorough review of online presence, including social media, aims to uncover any potential threats or information that might render an applicant inadmissible to the United States.

By: TPA News Desk | editor@thepointafricanews.com