The United States government has instructed Pakistani applicants for student and exchange visa categories to make their social media accounts “public” to enable U.S. authorities to verify their identity and conduct security vetting.
These instructions were issued by the U.S. Consulates in Karachi and Lahore via Instagram and are an extension of similar guidelines released earlier this week by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
According to the statement, “All individuals applying for non-immigrant visas under the F, M, or J categories are required to set the privacy settings of all their social media accounts to ‘public’ so their identity and eligibility for entry into the United States can be verified.”
It is worth mentioning that the American government mandated all visa applicants to provide their social media account handles since 2019. However, Trump Administration has directed to strictly enforce this requirement.
Authorities have warned that failure to provide social media information, or submitting false details, may lead to visa denial and possible ineligibility for future applications.
It should be noted that F and M visas are issued to students enrolling in U.S. educational institutions, while the J visa is designated for participants in exchange programs.
This measure stems from former President Donald Trump’s administration’s policy to reform the student visa system and tighten security screening procedures.
