The Trump administration has paused all new interviews for foreign student visa applicants, and is may institute social media vetting, according to a cable obtained by Politico.
In the Tuesday cable signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the administration has ordered US embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews – a move that could severely slow down student visa processing, and hurt many universities such as Harvard which rely heavily on foreign students.
“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 septel, which we anticipate in the coming days,” reads the cable. (“Septel” is short for “separate telegram.”)
Watch what you post on social media. It never goes away and may come back and bite you in the ass.