US Embassy in PH tells visa applicants to set social media accounts to public
The US Embassy in the Philippines has requested visa applicants to set their social media accounts to 'public' for vetting purposes.
“All individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under US law,” the US Embassy in Manila announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday, June 24.
The request, according to the embassy, was effective immediately.
Since 2019, the United States has required visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on immigrant and nonimmigrant visa application forms.
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identity visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security,” the embassy said.