The U.S. State Department said last 18 June that it is restarting the process for foreigners to apply for student visas but says all applicants must have their social media accounts set to 'public' to allow review by officials.
Consular officers will be looking for activity, posts and messages showing "any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States," the department said. It said a refusal to do so could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity.
The announcement is the latest step in President Donals Trump administration’s crackdown on international students, and the U.S. said applicants who refuse may have their applications rejected.
Students around the world have been waiting anxiously for U.S. 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.
On Wednesday afternoon (18 June), a 27-year-old Ph.D. student in Toronto was able to secure an appointment for a visa interview next week. The student, a Chinese national, hopes to travel to the U.S. for a research intern position that would start in late July.
"I’m really relieved," said the student, who spoke on condition of being identified only by his surname, Chen, because he was concerned about being targeted. "I’ve been refreshing the website couple of times every day."
Students from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have posted on social media sites that they have been monitoring visa booking websites and closely watching press briefings of the State Department to get any indication of when appointment bookings might resume.
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