US resumes student visas but orders enhanced social media vetting

The United States has resumed scheduling appointments for international student visa applicants, but with a strict new requirement: applicants must make their social media accounts public for what officials are calling "enhanced screening."

According to officials, the updated vetting process aims to detect “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.” Keeping social media profiles private could now be interpreted as an attempt to conceal online behavior, the State Department warned.

The revised policy applies to all F visa applicants, primarily used by academic students, and also affects M visas for vocational students and J visas for exchange programs.

A senior State Department official stated, “It is an expectation from American citizens that their government will make every effort to make our country safer, and that is exactly what the Trump administration is doing every single day.”

Visa officers are also instructed to flag individuals who support or promote foreign terrorist groups, pose national security risks, or engage in anti-Semitic harassment or violence.

The move is part of a broader immigration crackdown by former President Donald Trump, who has accused elite U.S. universities of being overly left-leaning and failing to respond adequately to antisemitism during pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Trump’s administration previously froze hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to several universities and attempted to deport or revoke visas for certain students—actions that have faced legal challenges in U.S. courts.

One of the most scrutinized institutions is Harvard University, which faced a freeze on $2.65 billion in federal grants. Trump also tried to block Harvard’s enrollment of international students, though a federal judge has temporarily halted that effort.

During the 2023–24 academic year, over 1.1 million international students from more than 210 countries were enrolled in U.S. colleges, according to data from Open Doors.