The True Post (Web News) Difficulties are about to increase for those wishing to obtain a visa to the United States, as the Trump administration has decided to further tighten the visa process.
The new policy requires a comprehensive review of applicants’ social media activity over the past five years. US Customs and Border Protection has published a notice of the decision in the Federal Register. Under the policy, US Citizenship and Immigration Services will review whether applicants have previously posted or shared content that is anti-American, anti-Semitic or related to terrorism. Although the final date for the new policy to take effect has not been announced, officials have asked the public to comment on the measure within 60 days.
According to reports, visa applicants will also be asked to provide email addresses, phone numbers and other personal details of their family members, in order to further strengthen the background check.
The US State Department has previously ordered tourists to keep their social media posts “public”, while the Trump administration has already hinted at accessing the social media history of visa and green card applicants.
Analysts say the move could put students, tourists and other foreign visitors at risk of losing their visas because of their online activities. According to experts, there is now a risk that visas will also be rejected on the basis of political or ideological differences. In addition, the Trump administration has already imposed entry restrictions on citizens of 19 countries and is now considering expanding this list to 30 countries. Surprisingly, these strict new conditions will also apply to countries that have long enjoyed visa exemptions, including the United Kingdom and Germany.
