The department said that consular civil servants will search for posts and news that could be considered hostile to the United States, their government, culture, institutions or founding principles.
In a Wednesday published on Wednesday, the department said that it had lifted hers May suspension of the student -visa processing But new applicants who refuse to set their social media accounts to “public” and allow them to be checked can be rejected. It is said that a refusal to do this could be a sign that you try to escape the requirement or to hide your online activities.
The Trump administration last month has stopped planning new Visa interviews for temporary Foreign students In the hope of studying in the United States while preparing to expand the screening of their activities on social media, officials said.
The students around the world look forward to the fact that US consulates have reopened the dates for visa interviews when the window was switched on before the start of the school year to book their trip and make apartment agreements.
On Wednesday afternoon a 27-year-old Ph.D. The student in Toronto was able to make an appointment for a Visa interview next week. The student, a Chinese citizen, hopes to travel to the United States to a research internship that would start at the end of July. “I am really relieved,” said the student, who spoke on the condition that he was only identified by his last name because he was concerned to be targeted. “I refreshed the website every day.”
Students from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have published on social media website that they monitored the websites of the visa booking and closely observed the press conferences of the Foreign Ministry in order to obtain an indication of when the schedule could be resumed.
When the visa process reopened, the Foreign Ministry also asked consulates to prioritize students in the hope of registering at universities where foreigners make up less than 15% of the student body, said an American official, who is familiar with the matter. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail information that was not published.
According to an associated press analysis of federal education data from 2023, foreign students are more than 15% of the total student body at almost 200 US universities. Most are private universities, including All eight schools in the Ivy League. However, these criteria also include 26 public universities, including the University of Illinois and Pennsylvania State University. Foreign students only make up more than 15% of the population at around 100 universities, almost all privately.
International students in the United States were increased on several fronts. In the spring, the Trump administration revoked permission to study in the United States for thousands of students, including some that are only involved in traffic offenses, before abrupt Course turn. The government too expanded the site can terminate their legal status through the foreign students.
As part of a pressure campaign at Harvard University, the Trump administration has taken on Block foreign students From the visit to the Ivy League School, which counts on international students for tuition fees and a quarter of their enrollment. Trump said Harvard should limit his foreign enrollment to 15%.
This latest move to the students’ social media, said the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, “will make sure that we try every single person properly to visit our country.”
In the internal instructions sent to consular officers, the department said that they should search for “signs of hostility towards citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.
Jameel Jaffer, Managing Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute of Columbia University, said
“This policy makes a censor of every consular officer and inevitably will inevitably relax the legitimate political speech within and outside of the United States,” said Jaffer.
The Trump administration has also asked 36 countries to commit themselves to improve the review of travelers or to expose themselves Prohibition of their citizens who visit the United States. In a diplomatic cable sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the countries have 60 days to take into account US concerns, or the risk of being added to a travel ban, which now includes 12 nations.
