Nowadays everything now seem to revolve around social media and how you participate on social media platforms hence the need to be really careful about what you share, tweet or like. Employers are now turning to social media, so that they can have a better understanding of the other side of you that you will be trying to hide and many are losing great opportunities because of a tweet one wrote some years ago that may happen to resurface today. In recent news if you want to stay in the US, you’ll likely have to share your internet presence.
The State Department is now requiring nearly all applicants for U.S. visas to submit their social media usernames, previous email addresses and phone numbers. It’s a vast expansion of the Trump administration’s enhanced screening of potential immigrants and visitors.
In a move that’s just taken effect after approval of the revised application forms, the department says it has updated its immigrant and non-immigrant visa forms to request the additional information, including “social media identifiers,” from almost all U.S. applicants.
The change, which was proposed in March 2018, is expected to affect about 15 million foreigners who apply for visas to enter the United States each year.
“National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveler and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” the department said. “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”
Social media, email and phone number histories had only been sought in the past from applicants who were identified for extra scrutiny, such as people who’d traveled to areas controlled by terrorist organizations. An estimated 65,000 applicants per year had fallen into that category.
The US had previously only required these details for people who visited terrorist-controlled areas. The goal is the same, however. The US is hoping to both verify identities and spot extremists who’ve discussed their ideologies online, potentially preventing incidents like the San Bernardino mass shooting.
The measure will affect millions of visa seekers each year, although whether or not it will be effective isn’t clear. A State Department official told The Hill that applicants could face “serious immigration consequences” if they’re caught lying, but it’s not certain that they’ll be found out in a timely fashion — the policy is counting on applicants both telling the truth and having relatively easy-to-find accounts if they’re dishonest. And like it or not, this affects the privacy of social media users who might not want to divulge their online identities (particularly private accounts) to government staff.
The department says collecting the additional information from more applicants “will strengthen our process for vetting these applicants and confirming their identity.”
The new rules apply to virtually all applicants for immigrant and non immigrant visas. When it filed its initial notice to make the change, the department estimated it would affect 710,000 immigrant visa applicants and 14 million non immigrant visa applicants, including those who want to come to the U.S. for business or education.
The new visa application forms list a number of social media platforms and require the applicant to provide any account names they may have had on them over the previous five years. They also give applicants the option to volunteer information about social media accounts on platforms not listed on the form.
In addition to their social media histories, visa applicants are now asked for five years of previously used telephone numbers, email addresses, international travel and deportation status, as well as whether any family members have been involved in terrorist activities.
Only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types are exempted from the requirements.