From News Desk
Photo courtesy – Global Residence Index/ Piotr Cichosz/Unsplash
The United States has temporarily stopped new student visa interviews in F, M and J categories worldwide. It has decided to make a tight scrutiny of the social media profiles of the applicants. This will affect the Fall 2025 academic enrollments. The measure has been reportedly implemented from 28th of May onwards. Those whose interviews were scheduled prior to this date, may proceed as planned, unless otherwise notified by the Embassy or Consulate.
The halt comes amid internal discussions by the US Government on whether to expand the scope of social media scrutiny for visa applicants. The proposed changes would involve closer screening of applicants’ online activity as part of national security and fraud prevention efforts.
Secretry Rubio sent a notice saying, “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.”
Indian students form the second highest bulk in the US student visas categories. This notice may jeopardise their plans to join in the August-September sessions. They need to keep abreast of the evolving situation and plan accordingly. It’s not clear how long this will last and how it will evolve.
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