Visiting the United States, one of the most developed and powerful economies of the world is a dream thousands of Indians aspire to achieve someday, whether for leisure, education or professional travel.
In the latest series of events, the United States Embassy situated in India has stressed that Indian visa applicants are required to provide their social media identifiers. All available information will be used for visa screening and vetting, as part of the visa-granting scrutiny. Describing each visa judgement as a “national security decision”, the U.S. has asked applicants to share their social media usernames or handles for each platform they have used in the last five years.
The U.S. Embassy in India shared the information in a brief statement issued on June 26, 2025, which cautioned against purposely omitting the applicant’s social media information, as it could lead to the visa being denied and rejected; and also create an ineligibility for future visas.
The Donald Trump led US government’s wing US Embassy posted on their official X account, “Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit it.”
The U.S. Embassy has firmly stated in their directive that those applying for an F, M, or J category non-immigrant visa must switch their privacy settings of their social media accounts to “public” to facilitate vetting, which it said was necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the US under law.
The embassy had also said since 2019, the U.S. embassy and external affairs ministry requires visa applicants to provide “social media identifiers” on immigrant and non-immigrant visa application forms. The F or M category is for student visas, while the J category is for exchange visitor visas.
This revised intervention comes at an important junction, as several countries across the world face peace-related issues and terrorism incidents have witnessed a rampant increment. Every possible application is intended to enhance and fortify the national security of the United States. In this regard, the Union Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet has conveyed the change in guidelines via its official communication channels and also advised the respective applicants to adhere to the requirements. This updated social media account disclosure for filtering and screening aims to vet and identify applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security.
For the most up-to-date information and specific guidelines related to your visa type, refer to the official U.S. Embassy and Consulates in India website.
Be First to Comment