Student Visa Applicants Must Unlock Social Media Accounts

The State Department said Wednesday that it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas but that all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the US, its government, culture, institutions, or founding principles.

• The department said it had rescinded its May suspension of student visa processing but said new applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to "public" and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected, the AP reports. It said a refusal to do so could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity.

• A State Department cable to embassies seen by Politico asks them to flag any "advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security" and "support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence," with Hamas listed as an example.
• The Trump administration last month temporarily halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the US while preparing to expand the screening of their activity on social media, officials said. Students around the world have been waiting anxiously for US consulates to reopen appointments for visa interviews, as the window left to book their travel and make housing arrangements narrows ahead of the start of the school year.

(More State Department stories.)