The government of the United States (US) has temporarily suspended the student visa interviews worldwide following plans to enforce stricter screening of applicants social media activities.
This directive was issued by Marco Rubio, US secretary of state’s on Tuesday, May 27 at the Whitehouse in Washington District of Columbia (DC), US.
He said, “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued.”
Rubo mentioned that although this suspension is temporary, no new applicants can book an interview during this period.
However, he stated that already-scheduled interviews will go ahead as planned.
Rubio also noted that specific guidelines for the social media review process will be released in the coming days.
This new policy is part of a broader effort by the US government to restrict the entry of international students, citing concerns that foreign students have contributed to rising antisemitism on campuses.
The Trump administration is also pushing US universities to eliminate race-conscious admissions policies.
Trump had earlier revoked Harvard University’s certification under the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, effectively barring it from enrolling international students.
The Department of Homeland Security explained that this move followed Harvard’s refusal to hand over behavioral records of student visa holders.
Previously, the administration froze $2.3 billion in federal funding to the university and has also revoked the visas of hundreds of international students.
About 600 international students from over 90 universities and colleges lost their visas or legal status.
This means new interview appointments for student visa applicants, such as those applying for the F-1 visa, will be paused.
Comments