State Department to Resume Student and Exchange Visitor Visa Appointments; Will Screen for “Hostility” Toward the U.S.

According to several news outlets, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) will be resuming the scheduling and processing of visa applications for students and exchange visitors in the F, M, and J visa categories, and will prioritize appointments for physicians applying for J-1 visas and students who will be studying at U.S. universities with an international student population of less than 15%. This comes after the DOS announced a pause on scheduling new visa appointments for such individuals on May 27, to give consular posts time to evaluate operations and processes to expand social media vetting.

According to news reports, a new internal DOS cable directs consular officers to review the “online activity” of these visa applicants for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.” The DOS cable also instructs consular officers to flag any “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security” (with support for Hamas listed as an example) and “support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.” Consular officers have also been instructed to flag applicants who “demonstrate a history of political activism” and to “consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.” It is not yet clear the method by which online content will be screened. It seems that consular officers have been instructed to take any findings into consideration when adjudicating a visa application, for a wholistic view on each visa applicant.