US strict visa rule kicks in, applicants need to submit social media details

Washington: Planning to travel to US for work or study purpose? Henceforth you would need to submit social media names, five years’ worth of email addresses and phone numbers.

As per the new rules, laid down by the State Department, applicants providing false details about social media accounts would face serious immigration consequences. Certain diplomatic and official applicants, however, would be exempted from the new rule.

While the rule did exist earlier it was applicable only to those people who had been to parts of the world controlled by terrorist groups.

The idea was first mooted in March 2018 by the Trump administration but it was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union. The Union said: ”There is no evidence that such social media monitoring is effective or fair and said it would cause people to self-censor themselves online”.

Cracking down on immigrants was the key resounding motto of Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign.