The Trump administration has dealt a major blow to many international students about to schedule their U.S. visa interviews. The US embassies and consulates have been instructed to cease scheduling interviews for student visa applicants, reports POLITICO.
According to a cable acquired by POLITICO, the Trump administration is considering demanding social media screening for all international students applying to study in the United States, which would be a considerable expansion of prior efforts.
Therefore, the Trump administration has paused all new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting.
According to the cable, signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the administration is instructing US embassies and consular sections to suspend arranging new interviews for such student visa applicants in preparation for the required scrutiny.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” the cable states. (Septel is State Department shorthand for ‘separate telegram.’)
The administration is considering whether all foreign students applying to study in the U.S. should be made to undergo social media vetting.
However, as per the Septel, those who already have their interviews scheduled will not be impacted.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Embassy announced on its official X account that thousands of student visa applications are now available under Mission India. As per the Global Visa Wait Times tables, as of May 25, the New Visa Appointment Wait Time Estimates for New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai are 2 months.
Impact on Students
The direct impact of this will be felt by students who were about to schedule their interviews at the US consulates. The new directive will have an impact on overseas students admitted to Harvard College’s Class of 2029, as well as other incoming students. After being admitted to Harvard in December or March, international applicants apply for student visas through US embassies or consulates in their home countries.
In addition to students seeking F visas, Tuesday’s decree applies to academics and exchange visitors seeking J visas. It also applies to students applying for M visas to pursue vocational training.
As and when the interview scheduling process opens up, the student visa processing time could be significantly impacted.
Many students and academics may be unaware that their social media presence can be investigated during visa applications, border inspections, and law enforcement encounters.
Posting politically sensitive content could go against the overseas students and may provide a reason to the immigration authorities to reject the visas. The risk may still remain even if posts have been removed, stored, or screenshotted elsewhere.
Earlier, the Trump administration had already implemented some social media screening restrictions, but they were primarily intended for returning students who may have participated in rallies against Israel’s operations in Gaza.
In March, the White House announced it would require millions of immigrants seeking benefits ranging from green cards to citizenship to provide social media information on their immigration applications.
The cable does not explicitly state what the future social media vetting would look for. Many State Department officials have quietly grumbled for months that previous guidance, such as assessing students who may have engaged in campus protests, has been imprecise. It is unclear, for example, whether sharing photographs of the Palestinian flag on an X account would subject a student to greater scrutiny.
NAFSA, Association of International Educators, a group that advocates for foreign students, decried the decision. “The idea that the embassies have the time, the capacity, and taxpayer dollars are being spent this way is very problematic. International students are not a threat to this country. If anything, they’re an incredible asset to this country,” says Fanta Aw, the group’s CEO.