Picture for illustrative purposes only. ARCHIVE

The US Embassies in the Philippines and India have announced that applicants for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas must now set their social media profiles to public to aid in security vetting and identity verification. In a statement on Tuesday (June 24), the embassies said the change is effective immediately. “All individuals applying for an F, M or J non-immigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States.” The rule affects those applying for F visas (academic students), M visas (vocational students) and J visas (exchange visitors such as researchers, scholars, and interns). The missions clarified that this step is part of ongoing efforts to uphold national security and ensure applicants meet US admissibility standards. Since 2019, visa applicants have been required to submit their social media identifiers on both immigrant and non-immigrant visa forms. However, the new requirement goes further by requesting that privacy settings be removed, enabling embassy officials to directly view posted content. Officials have not specified how long the accounts must remain public, but the move reflects increased scrutiny of applicants’ digital footprints. The embassy advises applicants to review their social media content before submitting applications and ensure it aligns with US visa and immigration requirements.
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