THE US Embassy in Manila yesterday said all individuals applying for an F, M or J non-immigrant visa should adjust the privacy settings in their social media accounts to “public” to facilitate vetting and establish their identity and admissibility to the United States.
The embassy said the requirement is “effective immediately.”
It said that since 2019, the US government has required visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on immigrant and non-immigrant visa application forms.
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security,” the embassy added.
F, M and J visas are non-immigrant visas issued by the US government to foreign nationals who wish to study or take part in exchange visitor programs.
F visa is commonly used by academic students, the M visa by vocational students, while the L visa is commonly used by exchange visitors to the US, including researchers.
Last month, the Trump administration temporarily halted interview appointments for those applying for visas to study in the US.
Last week, the State Department said it is set to resume accepting student visa applications.
