Travel Alert | Department of State expands Visa screening to include social media history

Posted on 29 June 2025. As of June 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of State has expanded its visa application requirements for non-immigrant categories, mandating that all applicants for F (student), M (vocational), and J (exchange visitor) visas disclose their social media activity from the past five years. The J nonimmigrant visa is the best known of these. It covers work in the US for a limited period, while its J1 iteration allows students and college graduates to enter the U.S. during the summer for work and travel. An F nonimmigrant visa allows foreign nationals to enter the U.S. temporarily to pursue academic studies at certain institutions. The M nonimmigrant visa is similar, covering education in non-academic or vocational fields.  The new measures do not affect Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) visas.  This enhanced screening measure, applicable globally, includes Portuguese nationals in these categories as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to strengthen national security protocols. The list includes submitting all social media usernames to include major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, Snapchat, YouTube, and others. If the platform is not listed in the form’s dropdown menu, applicants must select “Other” and manually
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