US Embassy India state that student visa applicants have to make their social media accounts public to get visa approvals. It is part of new screening guidelines. All the candidates who are applying for F, M, or J non-immigrant visa should change the privacy of their social media accounts, made it public and facilitates the embassy for vetting procedures, to confirm their identification under US Law.
The F class visa (F-1) is issued to students who need to pursue academic studies; M category visa (M-1) to individuals that want to pursue vocational or different non-educational studies; J class visa (J-1) to people who need to teach, study, conduct research, or on-the-process education for periods range from some weeks to several years.
US Embassy India Implement New Screening Protocols
Last month, US management had asked its embassies to stop scheduling appointments for students visas as it expands scrutiny of candidates’ social media posts.
Announcing the resumption of student visa interviews on June 18, the US State Department stated candidates will must make their social media profiles public for the consular officers so that you can vet them — and allow entry or “inadmissibility” thus. This efficiently means their posts on social media and any political reviews taken into consideration unfavourable should decide if they could pursue education in the US or not.
Enhance US National Security
It said it’d uphold “the essential requirements of national security and public safety through our visa method”. Saying “a US visa is a privilege, not a right”, it said: “We use all available records in our visa screening and vetting to discover visa candidates who are inadmissible to the United States, which include people who pose a threat to US national security.
Under new protocols by US Embassy India, we are able to conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, together with online presence, of all students and exchange visitor candidates in the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications.”
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