The United States Mission in Nigeria has directed all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas to adjust their social media account’s privacy settings to “public.”
The mission gave this directive on its official X page on Monday, saying it was to enable it to prevent applicants that pose security threat to United States get visa.
F, M, and J visas are nonimmigrant visa categories issued by the US government for individuals going to the country for educational and exchange purposes.
The mission stated that applicants in those categories must now set their personal social media profiles to public, as part of a new visa requirement.
“Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J nonimmigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their personal social media accounts to ‘public,’” the post read.
It continued: “We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security.”
