As US vets social media posts for student visas, anxiety grips applicants

When Chennai-based engineer, Ganesh* found out earlier this year that he had gained admission to a graduate programme in California, he was thrilled. “It was the school I always wanted,” he said. He began planning out his finances and getting all his documents together.

By the time he had to apply for his US student visa in early May, he had almost all his information ready. All he had to do then was to get an appointment at the US consulate. So he began the tedious process of filling out his DS-160, the online application form for a nonimmigrant visa to the US.

He added his personal and family information, education and work background and affirmed that he had no criminal history. The form also asked if he had a “social media presence”. A drop-down listed about 20 options, including Facebook and YouTube, Pinterest and Reddit.

Though Ganesh, 24, did have some personal social media accounts, he was not particularly active on any of them. They were all private and he used them just to engage with people he knew. So when asked to provide links on the visa form, he only gave that of his LinkedIn profile.

Just over a month since, that decision makes him nervous. If given a chance to re-submit the application form, Ganesh said that would list all his accounts to ensure that he is not “flagged”.

The anxiety that has gripped Ganesh and many other foreign students at various stages of their visa application process is a result of an announcement by US authorities on June 18 of new requirements to be eligible to study in the country. Each applicant now has to pass a check of their social media platforms, which must all be set to “public” to allow anyone to access them.

The US authorities will screen and vet these accounts to ensure that foreign students do not “harm Americans” or its national interests, and intend to only participate in “activities consistent with the terms for their admission”.

Until May, an estimated, 4,700 foreign students in the US had their visas revoked, the Associated Press reported, many as a seeming consequence for having participated in pro-Palestine protests in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza. A study by a US lawyers association of 327 visa cancellations in April found that 50% of the students involved were Indian.

The new US guidelines came just over three weeks after the authorities had abruptly halted visa appointments for student and exchange visas around the world. Students who are yet to file their visa applications are scrambling to understand what this announcement means for them since it did not explain how the vetting process will be conducted.

Others like Ganesh, who had filed their immigration forms and already been allotted interview slots, are unclear how these new instructions apply to them. They fear that their applications could be viewed with scepticism because they did not list all their social media accounts, no matter that they are not active on them.

Such fears have been fuelled by messages on WhatsApp groups formed by visa applicants from around the world to share immigration-related information.

For example, one purported summary of the latest US State Department announcement listed factors US student visa applicants should now keep in mind, especially in regards to their online presence.

Having “no social media presence”, this message claimed, could also be a red flag for visa officials.

While the latest State Department brief does not explicitly mention this, some points made in the WhatsApp message echo other recent US advisories. In April, for example, the US Department of Homeland Security said it would be screening “antisemitic activity on social media” while deciding on the immigration status and benefits of non-Americans, including foreign students.

With new announcements every other week and little information on what such vetting looks like, students coming to the US have begun relying on online lawyers, media articles and even hearsay to try to get a sense of the process, applicants said.

“There are rumours everywhere,” Ganesh said. “So everyone is just taking a gamble”.

For some other applicants with social media accounts, though, the State Department announcement is not just an annoyance – it impinges on their safety. One female student in the process of getting her US visa explained why she does not want to make their Instagrams public: “I don’t want people I don’t know following me and leaving comments on my photos.”

In 2024, Indians made up the largest group of international students in the US. The 422,335 students from India comprised about 30% of the total 1.6 million international students in the US. Their number had jumped 11.8% from 2023.

But the process of applying for an American student visa is painstaking and long. Just getting an appointment at a US embassy or consulate in India can take weeks, if not months.

As per the most recent estimates, the average wait time to get a F, M or J visa appointment across India’s five US consular offices – Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and New Delhi – is two months. This is the second-highest wait time in South Asia. In Dhaka, it could take nine months. On the other hand, in cities like Paris and Johannesburg, this could take up to a month. In London or Tel Aviv, a visa appointment could be secured in days.

It is unclear how the new social media vetting process will affect this waiting period. Those who already got appointments, such as Akshay*, a Delhi-based journalist admitted to a university in New York, consider it sheer luck.

Akshay, 27, filed his forms just a few days before the halt on visa appointments. Asked for his social media details, he gave his Instagram and X accounts. They were both public.

But he felt compelled to do some “cleaning” before that: He archived a few posts on his Instagram and deleted some from X. None of them were related to the US or its policies. They did, however, show him protesting against a local official when he was in college.

He just didn’t want to be “flagged”.

“Everyone’s as confused as the other,” said Akshay, who has taken a hefty student loan to pursue his studies. Even though he has now got his student visa, he has been maintaining a key social media practice: “Actively avoiding liking or interacting” with any pro-Palestine posts.

As a foreign student, he says he will have to keep doing that – not just before entering the US, but also while he is there for graduate school.

Many international students who have been admitted to American universities have adopted the same strategy, at least a dozen students told Scroll. According to one of them, their social media is now meant to appear as “ignorant” as possible.

This has become even more critical for students like Karan* who has been admitted to a law school in the US, but is yet to get his visa appointment.

A lawyer from Jaipur, he has been particularly active on X for the past few years, expressing his views on global politics from time to time. He has been advised to clean up his online presence as he seeks an interview.

For Karan, like most foreign students admitted to US programmes, there is only one aim: to get a visa and continue his higher education, no matter the hassle.

He is now making his Instagram account public. Even though he thinks it’s almost impossible to review and sanitise his history on X, Karan plans to set aside two full days to do it. After all, he said a day after the advisory, “my views don’t matter right now”.

*Names of students have been changed to protect their identities.

📰 Crime Today News is proudly sponsored by DRYFRUIT & CO – A Brand by eFabby Global LLC

Design & Developed by Yes Mom Hosting