Taoiseach: I don't approve of ‘excessive' US visa vetting
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that he doesn't agree with 'excessive' social media vetting announced by the US Embassy in Dublin as a requirement for Irish students seeking J1 visas to travel and work in the US.
Applicants will be asked to list all their social media profiles going back five years and to make their accounts publicly accessible or their visa could be rejected, the embassy said in a statement yesterday.
It also announced that the measures were aimed to identify applicants who pose a threat to American national security and that a US visa 'is a privilege, not a right'. The announcement was criticised by the Taoiseach as well as student groups. Micheál Martin. Pic: Michael Chester
Mr Martin said: 'I believe those measures by the United States are excessive. I don't approve of them. I don't agree with them.
'One of the great things in the world, in the modern world, has been the capacity for young people to travel and mobility is important.'
'There is an issue around freedom of speech, but it's more the atmosphere that's created by these measures, the fear and the anxiety that young people will now experience travelling.'
The changes also apply for other exchange visitor applicants in the F and M non-immigrant classifications. The F visa allows people to enter the US as a full-time student, while the M visa is a US student visa for vocational and non-academic programmes.
The US Embassy said appointments for J1 applications will resume soon after they were paused at the end of May. Pic: Shutterstock
The president of the University of Galway's student union, Faye Ní Dhomhnaill, called the announcement 'disappointing' and said she's certain J1 applications will fall as a result.
She added: 'Most people who would have considered going to America will probably end up inter-railing instead. Already I've seen people that were on the fence about a J1 this year just decide that it wasn't worth the hassle, so they would instead go to Europe. It's incredibly disappointing that this is supposed to be 'the land of the free', and champions of free speech.
'Five years of your social media history is a long time, especially for young people going on J1s, you could be 20. Five years ago you were 15. I wasn't the smartest person in the world at 15.'
Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn, the representative group for student unions in Ireland, voiced concern over what it called a 'significant and disproportionate intrusion into students' personal lives'.
Tánaiste Simon Harris also said he was 'very concerned' by the updated advice.
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