F-1 Students, ISSS, ISSS Community Blog

Visa Updates & Social Media Vetting

July 18, 2025 Comments Off on Visa Updates & Social Media Vetting

Dear Colleagues,

We’d like to provide a summary of updates regarding visa appointments and social media vetting. 

U.S. Embassies and Consulates around the world are currently reopening student visa interview appointments with changes (note that not all embassies and consulates have opened new student visa interview appointment slots, but we anticipate this to happen within the next few days).

New Social Media Vetting Requirements

A new State Department policy now requires consular officers to review each applicant’s social media and online presence before approving a visa. After each interview, if an officer is inclined to approve the visa, they must first place the application under Administrative Processing while they review the applicant’s virtual details. We are hearing that these mandatory reviews are adding approximately two weeks of delay to the visa process, so students should schedule their interviews as early as possible to accommodate this additional time. 

All social media profiles must be set to public, and we understand that visa officers are screening for:

  • Indications of affiliation with or support for organizations designated as terrorist groups by the U.S. government;
  • Evidence of involvement in, or planned illegal activities;
  • Online content expressing threats, harassment, or hostility toward individuals or institutions in the United States;
  • Discriminatory or hate-based content, including antisemitism;
  • Evidence of past noncompliance with U.S. visa regulations; and 
  • Inconsistent information between the DS-160 form and the visa interview.

Impacts on Interview Availability

Recent visa appointment closures, combined with new vetting requirements, are expected to impact interview availability. This means:

  • Interview slots are limited, especially at busy posts.
  • Applicants from schools with smaller international student populations may be prioritized (less than 15% of enrollment).
  • Students might consider interviewing in another city or country if no local appointments are available, but they should be prepared for additional scrutiny if they do so.
  • Follow-up/second interviews may not be accommodated before classes begin, so students need to be prepared at their first attempt.

Key Points for Advising Students:

  • Interviews should be scheduled as early as possible, and emergency/expedited slots may be limited or unavailable. 
  • Applicants must list all social media accounts on the DS-160 and set their accounts to public before their interview. 
  • Students should consider completing a new DS-160 form if they did not list all social media accounts in their previous submission.
  • Adequate preparation for the interview is more important than ever; students may not be able to schedule additional interviews before their classes begin if they are denied.
  • Students should review their social media and general online presence for questionable content and to ensure that all details are factual and accurate. Even seemingly trivial discrepancies, such as the date of employment on a LinkedIn profile that doesn’t match an answer in the DS-160 form, could lead to a denial.

We hope to see you all on July 9, when we’ll discuss these new developments in greater detail (register here). 

Wishing you the best,

The Homebase and ZF Visa and Immigration Teams