November 28, 2024
Business

The US wants visa applicants to submit five years of social media details

The US government wants to require visa applicants to submit their social media details, according to State Department proposals which are part of Donald Trump's "extreme vetting" policy.

About 14.7m immigrant and non-immigrant applicants will be asked to list the social media usernames they have used for the past five years. The information will then be used to vet and identify them, along with five years of previously used phone numbers and email addresses.

Currently, only about 65,000 people per year – those who have travelled to areas controlled by terrorist groups – are asked to submit social media, email and phone numbers with their applications.

The State Department does not intend to ask for the social media information for most diplomatic and official visa applicants.

The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules.

The President has called for tougher rules on immigration, but his previous efforts to implement a travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries have been struck down by courts. The Supreme Court will give a decision on his latest version in June.

Read more: Taking Trump literally: The President is incompetent or malevolent or both

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