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Non-Immigrant Visa: US Embassy Begins Screening Nigerian Students’ Social Media Accounts
The United States Mission in Nigeria has announced that all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas are now required to set the privacy settings of their social media accounts to “public.”
F, M, and J visas are nonimmigrant categories issued by the US government for individuals entering the country for educational and exchange programmes.
The mission stated that applicants in these categories must now make their social media profiles public as part of a new visa regulation.
The announcement was made on the official X page of the United States Diplomatic Mission Nigeria on Monday, stating that the new rule takes immediate effect.
“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to ‘public,’” the post read.
According to the post, this requirement is designed to support efforts to verify the identities of applicants and assess their eligibility to enter the United States.
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security,” the post said.
When the update was initially announced in June, the US emphasised that a visa “is a privilege, not a right.”
On June 18, 2025, the US Department of State published a notice on its website explaining that under the new policy, “we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.”
“To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public.’”
The statement added, “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.
“The United States must be vigilant during the visa-issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.”
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