What’s Happening
On May 27, 2025, in an internal State Department (DOS) cable obtained by several news outlets including CBS, The Associated Press, and Politico, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies to stop scheduling F-1 and M-1 student visa and J-1 exchange visitor visa appointments until further notice. This pause is intended to be temporary, but will remain in place until the State Department provides embassies with updated guidelines on screening applicants’ social media. There is no official guidance on what the additional social media screening and vetting will look like. However, the Trump Administration’s general practice of looking at visa applicants’ social media indicates the social media screening will focus on “terrorism” and “antisemitism” as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on university campuses. Although there is no specified duration for the pause, the cable indicated that further guidance is anticipated “in the coming days.”
With the exception of Canadians, all students and exchange visitors traveling to the U.S. to study or work must attend an interview at a U.S. consulate or embassy abroad and be issued a visa stamp before they are able to travel to the U.S. and commence studies or work permitted under their F-1, M-1, or J-1 status.
What You Need To Know
Based on the information available at this time, the pause:
Is expected to be temporary, so applicants are advised to continue to check consulate websites for openings
Only applies to appointments for F-1 Student Visas, M-1 Student Visas, and J-1 Exchange Visitor Visas;
Will not affect already scheduled appointments. However, the increased backlog resulting from the pause could slow down the visa issuance process and individuals with currently scheduled appointments may be at higher risk of administrative processing delays prior to visa issuance.
Specific Social Media Vetting of Visa applicants Traveling to Harvard
As part of the State Department’s efforts to screen social media for “terrorism” and “antisemitism,” on May 30, 2025, a DOS cable directed consular officers to begin additional vetting of nonimmigrant visa applicants travelling to Harvard University “for any purpose.” This includes increased vetting for students, prospective students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and tourists. The increased vetting will include inspection of an applicant's social media and general online presence. Officers will consider “whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to ‘private’ or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility.” If the officer is not satisfied with the access to (or extent of) an online presence, the applicant will be placed in administrative processing, and instructed to set all of their social media accounts to “public.”
While this increased vetting only applies to applicants traveling to Harvard, DOS noted that this increased vetting is a “pilot” program that may be expanded over time.
D&S is continuing to monitor this situation and will provide updates as they become available.