On June 18, 2025, the State Department announced that overseas posts would soon resume scheduling F, M and J nonimmigrant visa applications. However, under new guidance, the department will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in these visa classifications.
To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”
An internal State Department cable of the same day, reviewed and reported by Reuters, among other news outlets, instructed US consular officers to conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting” of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who “bear hostile attitudes” toward the US. Limited access to social media profiles and online presence, including search engine history, may be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity.
Consular posts were reportedly warned that they may need to schedule fewer F, M and J visa cases than previously, considering the resource demands of increased vetting. They were also asked to prioritize J-1 physicians, as well as student applicants for US universities where international students make up less than 15% of the total.
On May 27, 2025, a State Department cable reportedly instructed US embassies and consulates to pause the scheduling of all new interviews for student or exchange visitor (F, M and J) visa applications, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting.
Erickson Insights & Analysis
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to monitor developments and share updates as more news is available. Please contact your employer or EIG attorney if you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions.