Nearly all applicants for U.S. visas are now required to submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers, ...
Nearly all applicants for U.S. visas are now required to
submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers,
according to the State Department.
The move has just taken effect and the department says it
has updated its immigrant and nonimmigrant visa forms to request the additional
information, including “social media identifiers,” from almost all U.S.
applicants.
The change, which was proposed in March 2018, is expected
to affect about 15 million foreigners who apply for visas to enter the United
States each year.
“National security is our top priority when adjudicating
visa applications, and every prospective traveler and immigrant to the United
States undergoes extensive security screening,” the department said. “We are
constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to
protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United
States.”
Social media, email and phone number histories had only
been sought in the past from applicants who were identified for extra scrutiny,
such as people who’d traveled to areas controlled by terrorist organizations.
An estimated 65,000 applicants per year had fallen into that category.
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