US resumes visas for foreign students but demands access to social media accounts

The US State Department said on Wednesday that it is restarting the suspended process for foreigners who apply for student visas, but all applicants will now be asked to cancel their social media accounts to review the government.

The ministry said that consular officers will search for jobs and messages that can be considered hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions, or principles of establishment.

In a notice that the administration was announced on Wednesday, the administration said that it canceled its comment on the treatment of student visas, but they said that the new applicants who refused to appoint their social media accounts on “publicly” and allow them to review them may be rejected. He said that refusing to do this may be a sign that they are trying to evade the requirements or hide their online activity.

Officials said that the Trump administration last month temporarily stopped the new visa interviews for foreign students in the hope of studying in the United States while preparing to expand the scope of their activities on social media.

Students around the world are eagerly awaiting for US consulates to reopen appointments for visa interviews, as she left the window to book their travel and make housing arrangements narrow before the start of the school year.

On Wednesday afternoon, a 27 -year -old doctorate managed the student in Toronto to secure an appointment to conduct an interview in the visa next week. The student, a Chinese citizen, hopes to travel to the United States for a training training that will start in late July. “I am really comfortable,” said the student, who spoke provided that he is only recognized by his title, because he was interested in targeting. “The website has been updated twice every day.”

Students from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have published on social media sites that they are watching visa reservation sites and watching the Ministry of Foreign Affairs presses closely to obtain any indication of the resumption of schedule.

A US official who is familiar with the issue, when reopening the visa process, said the consular Ministry also asked to give priority to students who hope to register in colleges where foreigners make up less than 15 % of the Student Authority. The official spoke, provided that his identity is not disclosed about the information that has not been publicly published.

Foreign students make up more than 15 % of the total student body in approximately 200 American universities, according to the analysis of the Associated Press for Federal Education data from 2023. Most private universities, including all the eight Ivy League schools. But these criteria also include 26 public universities, including Illinois University and Pennsylvania State University. Only when university students look, foreign students make up more than 15 % of the population in about 100 universities, and they are almost all of them.

International students in the United States are facing increasing scrutiny on several fronts. In the spring, the Trump administration canceled the permission to study in the United States for thousands of students, including only some participants in traffic crimes, suddenly before the opposite. The government also expanded the foundations that foreign students can end.

As part of a pressure campaign targeting Harvard University, the Trump administration has moved to prevent foreign students from attending the Ivy League school, which is considered international students for the dollar of education and a quarter of its registration. Trump said Harvard should determine his foreign registration by 15 %.

The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that this last step to examine social media for veterinarians will ensure that we examine everyone trying to visit our country correctly.

In the internal guidance that was sent to the consular officers, the administration said that they should search for “any indications of hostility towards citizens, culture, government, institutions, or principles of the United States.”

Jameel Jaffer, CEO of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said the new policy raises the ideological examination of the Cold War, when prominent artists and intellectuals were excluded from the United States

“This policy makes controlling every consular employee, and it will inevitably calm a legitimate political discourse inside and outside the United States,” Jafar said.

The Trump administration also called on 36 countries to adhere to improving travelers’ examination or a ban on their citizens who visit the United States. Country diplomat at the weekend, which the Foreign Ministry sent says that the two countries have 60 days to address American concerns or risk adding them to a travel ban, which now includes 12 countries.