An investigative reporter (State Dept. demands ‘enhanced’ social media vetting of student visa applicants) has obtained a copy of a cable sent by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 26, 2025, to State Department employees entitled “Action Request: Enhanced Screening and Social Media Vetting for Visa Applicants”. The cable requires consular officers to refer all F-1 Academic Student, J-1 Exchange Visitor and M Vocational or Non-Academic Student visa applicants to a review of their social media activity. The cable states the following:
“Effective immediately, consular officers must refer certain student and exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa applicants to the Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) for a mandatory social media check as described below[.]”
The cable has almost certainly been issued to comply with the directives of President Trump’s January 20, 2025 executive orders, including Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats (EO 14161). The cable also requires consular officers to perform enhanced social media vetting for any visa applicants who held a student or exchange visa between October 7, 2023, and August 31, 2024, or whose visa was terminated between October 7, 2023 and the present.
The cable further states:
“As part of screening every case for potential ineligibilities, consular officers MUST ADDRESS any derogatory information indicating that a visa applicant may be subject to the terrorism-related ineligibility grounds of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)…This includes advocating for, sympathizing with, or persuading others to endorse or espouse terrorist activities or support a DESIGNATED FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION (FTO).”
The cable instructs consular officers to take screenshots of visa applicants’ social media profiles and to store them as evidence in their case files.
The cable also states:
“Evidence suggesting a student visa applicant intends to travel to the United States to engage in unlawful activities clearly calls into question whether the applicant possesses intent and/or the ability to solely pursue a full course of study[.]” The cable continues by adding that “any activity that stops short of “terrorist activity” can be used by consular officers “in assessing the credibility of a visa applicant’s claimed purpose of travel.”
The cable further notes that a visa applicant need not express explicit support for “terrorist activity” and that “a degree of public approval or public advocacy for terrorist activity or a terrorist organization” will suffice for a visa denial. With extraordinary breadth, the cable adds: “This may be evident in conduct that bears a hostile attitude toward U.S. citizens or U.S. culture (including government, institutions, or founding principles). Or it may be evident in advocacy or sympathy for foreign terrorist organizations. All of these matters may open lines of inquiry regarding the applicant’s credibility and purpose of travel.”
All F-1, J-1, and M-1 visa applicants should carefully review their social media and understand that content that could be considered objectionable by a United States consular officer may be used as a basis for a visa application denial. As explained above, such content could include statements supportive of, or sympathetic to, terrorist or other militant organizations, or statements that could be considered “hostile” to the United States and its political institutions, or even to its culture and traditions. Such statements need not come from the visa applicant; a reposting of objectionable content from another person will be just as damaging.
As noted above, the bases for visa denial outlined in the cable will also apply to F-1, J-1, and M-1 visa holders who are currently in the United States. Consular officers that find evidence that a visa holder has violated the cable’s social media standards are instructed to contact the Visa Office in order to initiate review and a possible visa revocation.
