The United States Mission in Nigeria has declared that all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will now need to set the privacy settings of their social media accounts to “public.”
F, M, and J visas are nonimmigrant categories issued by the US government to individuals entering the country for educational and exchange programmes.
Announcing recently via its official X page of the United States Diplomatic Mission Nigeria, the mission stated that applicants who fall under these categories will have to make their social media profiles public henceforth, as part of a new visa regulation.
According to the post, the requirement will help to aid efforts to verify the identities of applicants and assess their eligibility to enter the United States, and the new rule is effective immediately.
“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’.
We 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,” it read.
After the update was initially announced in last month, the U.S. emphasised that a visa “is a privilege, not a right.”
On 18th of June, 2025, the US Department of State released a notice on its site revealing that under the fresh policy, “we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.”
“To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public.’”
Every visa adjudication is a national security decision.
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,” its press statement added.
