US Embassy Announces New Social Media Requirements for Visa Applications Affecting Antigua

Citizens of Antigua and Barbuda will be among those affected by new social media disclosure requirements for US visa applications announced by the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The embassy serves seven Caribbean nations including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

According to the embassy, visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.

The embassy has issued specific instructions for certain visa categories, stating that all individuals applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States. This requirement takes effect immediately.

The announcement comes as the US State Department recently restarted the suspended process for foreigners applying for student visas, with all applicants now required to unlock their social media accounts for government review. The State Department indicated that consular officers will examine posts and messages that could be deemed hostile to the United States, its government, culture, institutions or founding principles.

The embassy explained that since 2019, the United States has required visa applicants to provide social media identifiers on immigrant and non-immigrant visa application forms.

The statement added that they use “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.”