US visa applicants face stricter social media checks

The US Embassy in Sri Lanka has announced a significant tightening of its visa screening process, now requiring all temporary visa applicants to set their social media accounts to “public.” Any discovery of inappropriate content could lead to immediate visa denial.

Effective immediately, applicants for F, M, or J temporary visas will need to adjust the privacy settings of all their social media profiles to “public.”

This allows US officials to scrutinise the necessary information for identity verification and eligibility under US law.