In an attempt to tighten the visa screening process, the United States has announced that all individuals applying for non-immigrant visas in F (student), M, or J (academic scholar) categories are required to adjust the privacy settings on their social media accounts, making it 'public' to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the country.

In a post on X, the official handle of the U.S. Embassy in India (@USAndIndia) shared the announcement stating, "Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to 'public' to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States."

It said that since 2019, the United States 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 U.S. national security."

Meanwhile, the US administration also announced a sweeping new travel ban, barring nationals from 12 countries entirely, and will partially grant visas to seven others. Most of these affected countries are reportedly in the Middle East and Africa.

Citizens from these nations now face a total ban on immigrant and non-immigrant visas, including those for tourism, education, and employment.

While, seven other countries face partial restrictions, involving tighter screening or limited visa categories.

Amid growing concern in South Asia, the US has clarified that India is not on the list.

The US continues to process applications for Indian nationals across all categories, including B1/B2 tourist visas, H1B work permits, and F1 student visas.