Visa adjudication ‘is a national security decision’

Describing each visa adjudication as a “national security decision,” the US has asked applicants to share their social media usernames or handles for each platform they have used in the last five years.

The US Embassy in India shared the information in a brief statement issued on Thursday (June 26, 2025), which also cautioned against “omitting” social media information, as it could lead to “visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”

The statement that was posted on X read, “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 communication continued, “Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.” On June 23, the U.S. Embassy asked those applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa to switch the 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. has required visa applicants to provide “social media identifiers” on immigrant and non-immigrant visa application forms.

The F or M category is for student visas, and the J category is for exchange visitor visas. In Thursday’s (June 26, 2025) communication, the embassy also attached two related digital posters.

“Every U.S. visa adjudication is a national security decision,” read the caption on the top of a poster, followed by a note.

The note read, “The United States requires visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on visa application forms. We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting.”

It comes against the backdrop of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration in Los Angeles recently.