The US Embassy in India is coming up with stricter visa screening measures for applicants. A newly introduced rule requires applicants in the F, M, and J non-immigrant US visa categories to make their social media accounts public – effective immediately. The main aim of this directive is to enhance the existing vetting procedures that are being implemented across US consular services worldwide. “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’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States,” the Embassy stated in a post on X. As per this new rule, Indian students and others who are planning to pursue academia or enroll in vocational, exchange programs are mandated to ensure that their social media profiles are set to public. This should be done before submitting their visa applications. A refusal to set the accounts to “public” could be grounds for rejection. The Embassy stated that every piece of “available” information is used as part of its visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are deemed inadmissible to the country – including those who pose a threat to its national security. “The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission,” the department said. Meanwhile, earlier a US official and an internal State Department memo stated that the Trump administration is considering a $1,000 fee for fast-tracking these visa interview appointments. Setting a fee above the cost to provide the service “is contrary to settled Supreme Court precedent,” the memo said. Currently, tourists and other short-term US visa applicants pay a processing fee of $185. This new $1,000 option will provide a premium service to certain applicants to skip the queue and get faster visa interview appointments. This is applicable to people seeking B1 and B2 visas. According to reports, the plan remains under consideration for now and is not active. As of now, applicants should continue to follow existing procedures and the wait times that there is.