The Issue 

As a follow up to our May 30, 2025 blog post on the State Department’s temporary pause in scheduling of visa interviews for individuals applying for F, M and J nonimmigrant visas, the State Department issued a press release on June 18th announcing that U.S. consular posts have now been provided with guidance on conducting additional screening of applicant’s social media posts and, as a result, consular posts will soon resume scheduling appointments for student and exchange visitor nonimmigrant visas. 

A Deeper Dive 

In reviewing F, M and J nonimmigrant visa applications, consular officers are now required to conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting, including the applicants’ entire online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.”  The purpose of the additional vetting is to review applicants’ social media posts and search for signs that they “bear hostile attitudes toward [U.S.] citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.” 

To facilitate this review, applicants will be asked to set their social media profiles to public, and the cable notes that “limited access to, or visibility of, online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity.” The guidance provides no information about the length of time that applicants must keep their social media profiles public. 

Anticipating an increase in expedite requests, consular officers were instructed to give preference to those seeking to study at schools where foreign students are less than 15 percent of the total student body. By way of comparison, it has been reported that foreign students comprise approximately 27 percent of Harvard University’s student body. 

What This Means for Employers and Employees 

As noted in our May 30th blog, the additional screening requirements will likely reduce the number of visa appointments available for nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors while correspondingly increasing the processing time for each application while social media vetting takes place.  

Employers of exchange visitors or foreign students working pursuant to practical training who intend to travel abroad and who will need to obtain a new visa to reenter should discuss the purpose and timing of the trip to ensure that the proposed travel is essential and to plan for the foreign national’s lengthy absence from the United States. Please contact your Meltzer Hellrung attorney if you require additional information about the impact of this additional vetting on your workforce.