• Indian students applying for F, M, or J US visas must make social media accounts public.
• The directive aims to enhance security vetting processes by the US government.
• The policy raises concerns over privacy and scrutiny of applicants' online presence.

Effective immediately, applicants for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas to the United States are required to adjust their social media privacy settings to public, according to announcements from various US embassies, including those in Thailand and India. This policy is intended to assist US officials in verifying the identity and admissibility of visa seekers, as stated by the US embassy in Thailand which outlined the specific social media requirements for applicants in a recent post.

The US embassy in India echoes this stance, with an official communication stating that the adjustment is necessary "to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under US law," emphasizing its commitment to rigorous security protocols, especially for student and exchange visitor applications, according to Bangkok Post and India Times.

This directive reflects a broader trend in US visa processing, where social media accounts play a more prominent role in the vetting procedure. The recent measures are part of a national security initiative which allows consular officers to review applicants' online activities in greater depth for any signs of potential threats or misrepresentation. In this context, applicants are warned that limited visibility on their social accounts could raise suspicions and link them to evasive behavior, according to reports by Dawn and India Times.

Amid these developments, various stakeholders, including students planning to study in the US, have expressed concern over the implications of this new requirement. Many applicants feel that making their accounts public could compromise their privacy and lead to unwanted scrutiny of their personal lives, with fears that benign personal posts might be misinterpreted by officials unfamiliar with the cultural contexts of the content. This anxiety is particularly pronounced among students from marginalized groups, as mentioned in the report by Dawn and India Times.

This change comes at a time when many Indian students are preparing applications for the upcoming academic year, complicating their already challenging preparations for higher education in the US. With added pressure to sanitize their online presence, prospective students now face the daunting task of ensuring compliance while maintaining their authentic selves, raising broader questions of balancing security with individual privacy rights in the context of international education, according to Dawn and India Times.