The United States of America is now mandating visa applicants to provide their social media usernames or handles for each platform they have used in the last five years, terming this scrutiny for every visa determination as a "national security decision".
The message was also conveyed by the US Embassy in India, which published a brief statement today, Thursday, June 26, cautioning against "omitting" social networking information. They say that this could result in "visa denial and ineligibility for future visas".
"Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit,” read their statement on X.
On June 23, the US Embassy requested that individuals seeking an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa set the privacy settings of their social media accounts to "public" to facilitate vetting, which it stated was required to confirm their identity and admissibility to the US under law, according to a report by The Telegraph.
The embassy further stated that since 2019, the United States has required visa applicants to give "social media identifiers" on both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applications.
Responding to the US Embassy’s comments, the Ministry of External Affairs stated that the vetting process of Indian nationals’ visa applications must be carried out based on merit, ANI reports.
“Visa and immigration matters pertain to sovereign functions of any country. But, we have seen the guidelines issued by the US Embassy, providing details of social media identifiers in visa applications. We believe that all visa applications of Indian nationals should be treated based on merit,” said Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson of the MEA, at a weekly press briefing.
