Latest news with #consularofficers
News24
11 hours ago
- Politics
- News24
Trump vows ‘comprehensive and thorough vetting' for foreign students in US universities
US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday ordered the resumption of student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting in a bid to identify any applicants who may be hostile towards the US, according to an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters. US consular officers are now required to conduct a "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who "bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles," said the cable, which was dated 18 June and sent to US missions on Wednesday. On 27 May, the Trump administration ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants, saying the State Department was set to expand social media vetting of foreign students. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said updated guidance would be released once a review was completed. The cable dated 18 June, which was sent by Rubio and sent to all US diplomatic missions, directed officers to look for "applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States". The cable, which was first reported by Free Press, also authorised the consular officers to ask the applicants to make all of their social media accounts public. "Remind the applicant that limited access to... online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity," the cable said. The move follows the administration's enhanced vetting measures last month for visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose, in what a separate State Department cable said would serve as a pilot programme for wider expanded screening. Online presence The new vetting process should include a review of the applicant's entire online presence and not just social media activity, the cable said, urging the officers to use any "appropriate search engines or other online resources". During the vetting, the directive asks officers to look for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant. "For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities," the cable says, adding that may be a reason for ineligibility. Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, including students, because they got involved in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities. Those activities include support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza. A Tufts University student from Turkey was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention centre in Louisiana after co-writing an opinion piece criticising her school's response to Israel's war in Gaza. She was released from custody after a federal judge granted her bail. Trump's critics have said the administration's actions are an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Fewer appointments? While the new directive allows posts to resume scheduling for student and exchange visa applicants, it is warning the officers that there may have to be fewer appointments due to the demands of more extensive vetting. "Posts should consider overall scheduling volume and the resource demands of appropriate vetting; posts might need to schedule fewer FMJ cases than they did previously," the cable said, referring to the relevant visa types. READ | Foreign students want to transfer from Harvard over Trump 'fear, concern, and confusion' The directive has also asked posts to prioritise among expedited visa appointments of foreign-born physicians participating in a medical programme through exchange visas, as well as student applicants looking to study in a US university where international students constitute less than 15% of the total. At Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest US university on which the administration has launched a multifront attack by freezing its billions of dollars of grants and other funding, foreign students last year made up about 27% of the total student population. The cable is asking the overseas posts to implement these vetting procedures within five business days.
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US Resumes Visas for Foreign Students But Demands Access to Social Media Accounts
The US State Department announced Wednesday it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas, but all applicants will now be required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. The department said consular officers will be on the lookout for posts and messages that could be deemed hostile toward the US, its government, culture, institutions, or founding principles. In a notice made public Wednesday, the department said it had rescinded its May suspension of student visa processing, but said new applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to public and allow them to be reviewed may be rejected. It said a refusal to do so could be a sign they are trying to evade the requirement or hide their online activity. Under new guidance, consular officers will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants, the department said in a statement. 'To facilitate this vetting, applicants will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to public,' it said. 'The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country.' In internal guidance sent to consular officers, the department said they should be looking for any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
State Dept. announces new guidelines for vetting student visa applicants' social media
What determines who gets a student visa? Former DHS official explains the vetting process The State Department issued new guidelines Wednesday for more extensive social media vetting of all applicants for international student visas and exchange visitor visas, instructing consular officers to look for signs of "hostility" toward the United States. Applicants will be asked to set all of their social media accounts to "public," and will be notified that any failure to do so could be seen as evasive. U.S. officials reviewing applications have been told to look for "any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States." A senior State Department official said that the new vetting guidelines are part of an effort to "ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country" and to make the U.S. and its universities safer. The official said that consular posts could resume scheduling application interviews, which had been temporarily suspended as the State Department prepared stricter social media vetting. Late last month, the State Department said in a cable that it was planning to expand social media screening and vetting for international student visa applications. This followed an announcement in April that Citizenship and Immigration Services would be taking into account "antisemitic activity on social media" as "grounds for denying immigration benefit requests." As a result, counselors who work with foreign students eager to attend college in the U.S. had already begun advising them to purge their social media accounts of posts that could attract the attention of State Department officials.
The National
a day ago
- Politics
- The National
US restarts student visa interviews but applicants' social media accounts must be public
The State Department said on Wednesday that international students can again apply for US visas but all applicants must unlock their social media accounts for government inspection. The change means that applicants will be told to set all of their social media accounts to public. If they do not, it could be interpreted as an attempt to hide activity of which the government disapproves. "Under new guidance, consular officers will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications," a senior State Department official said. "The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country.' Consular officers will be looking for anything that could indicate hostility towards the US, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month told embassies and consulates around the world to pause new foreign student interviews as the State Department implemented enhanced screening of applicants' social media histories. In 2023-2024, the US hosted a record high of 1.1 million international students. About 90,000 were from the Arab World, according to estimates, while more than 300,000 were Indian. The US administration's clampdown on international student visa processing caused dismay across campuses in the US and among people hoping to study there. Mr Rubio also said last month that he would cancel visas for Chinese students with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or who are studying in critical fields. But President Donald Trump later said Chinese students would be allowed to attend US colleges and universities as part of trade negotiations with Beijing.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
US Orders Social Media Vetting for Student Visa Applicants
The US State Department has ordered a review of student visa applicants' social media presence and told them to make their profiles public, stepping up measures to restrict foreign nationals' entry to American campuses over national security concerns. The department instructed consular officers screening online accounts to watch for any indications of hostility toward the US.
