US visa applications may soon require five years of social media info

[Recruit]

 

The State Department wants to require all US visa applicants, both immigrant and non, disclose their social media handles to the US government, CNN reports. In documents that the department will file to the Federal Register tomorrow, it proposes that nearly every individual applying for a US visa be required to hand over any social media handles used on certain platforms in the past five years as well as submit any telephone numbers and email addresses used during that same time period.

 

Previously, this information was only requested from visa applicants who required more rigorous scrutiny -- such as those who had traveled to regions with notable terrorist activity. But once enacted, these rule changes will require nearly all applicants submit this information, with the only potential exceptions being those applying for diplomatic and official visas. However, even they may have to provide their social media info, as the State Department's documents only say "most" won't be "routinely" asked for it.

 

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security introduced a new rule that allows social media information to be included in immigrants' official records. But the move to incorporate social media handles and searches into visa application protocols precedes the Trump administration.

 

The State Department's proposed changes also include questions about immigrants' travel, whether they've been deported or removed from another country and if any of their relatives have been associated with terrorist activities. Applicants will also have the option to disclose social media handles used on platforms not listed on the questionnaire. Approximately 15 million visa applicants stand to be affected by the change.

 

Once the planned rule change is filed to the Federal Register on Friday, the public will have 60 days to comment on it.

 

Source

 

No social history, no visa

 

[knowledge-Spammer]

what happen is no social media

[Togijak]

@knowledge a real thought, because I have neither Fuckbook nor Trumpmedia (AKA Twitter) etc. Sounds for like more and more governments getting crazy 

[lennybubs]

The "WALL" is going up ALL around.

[nIGHT]

The right question is: Who would want to migrate to USA?

After all those school shooting, terrorists bombings/shootings/vehicle rampaging there plus the high crime rate, rape and racism, is quite alarming.

Not including the high jobless rate and homeless rate shows how bad their economies there and how hard to earn money there.

Remember 0bamacare and it got cancelled and replaced? Obamacare has lots of issues. I bet the replacement "trumpcare" too has many.
I saw that CNN news where obama was mentioning a lady in his speech but when that lady was interviewed by CNN, she said "I can't afford obamacare".
Even if you have those K12 education, the quality of education isn't the same as before those it precedes it. Maybe hire more smarter teachers?

Not good country to raise and start a family in my opinion. The community are too liberated.

Lots of drugs selling in the streets just like it was sold as easy as candy.

Gangs related crime causes troubles in community.

Though. there are very nice and friendly people there, being an expat and migrant there might not be a pleasant experience as shown in youtube.
The differing policies per state are confusing to us would-be migrants or expats!
You don't have everything like fruits, fish, and vegetables we have here.
Most of all! We can't torrent there and watch streaming without having VPN! Nope! Nope! Nope!
I like to visit USA but not want to live there and raise family.
I have lots of friends there who migrated there.
When they visit back they got all the good stories told but when one of our friend visit them there, he told us the real life is quite different from the stories. WTF!

 

[steven36]

2 hours ago, nIGHT said:

The right question is: Who would want to migrate to USA?

It's missed up they don't want too  let no one  in  and  theres millions of people who really done nothing wrong just there indebted to the federal government that cant get a passport to even leave so there trapped . Only rich people could buy there way out of it. So its damned if you do and damned if if you don't kind of policies in the states. The problems with immigrants not being able to get in  will most likely blow over after the next election  . But the problems with poor or middle class people born in the states and not being to migrate to other countries will always remain unless they change the laws , witch  nothing has  changed at all in the last 20 years.

[Recruit]

Maybe it is just a move to save Facebook....because it is the easiest way for their agencies to find almost anything about anyone.....How to save this crap? To remember people that social media still exists.....

 

Like they did with Apple some years ago, when said that Apple refused to provide FBI the encryption keys to unlock an Iphone owned by a terrorist.....quite a funny joke....but the sales have increased...nah, people thought that Apple is concerned about their privacy

 

I am not anti american... I love all american people !

The real problem is with the politicians.....things changed and the real geniuses remained only those who created The Constitution......

[WALLONN7]

2 hours ago, nIGHT said:

( ... )Even if you have those K12 education, the quality of education isn't the same as before those it precedes it. Maybe hire more smarter teachers? ( ... )

 

It was 1994 and Dave Mustaine wrote:

 

Quote

Who'd believe with the
Way things are here
We'd be going anywhere
Telling people how to live?
Who'd believe we'd spend more
Shipping drugs and guns
Than to educate our sons?
Sorry, but that's what they did

I can't help but think,
I can't help but think,
I can't help but think
Someone's forsaken you and me

Luck deserted me and
The truth beat out my brains
Men rise on stepping stones
Of their selves to higher things
I've stepped over lots of
Bodies on my way
Thanks for the information
Don't need no more anything

I can't help but think,
I can't help but think,
I can't help but think
Someone's forsaken you and me

We are the damned of all the world
With sadness in our hearts
The wounded of the wars
We've been hung out to dry
You didn't want us anyway
And now we're making up our minds
You tell us how to run our lives
We run for youthanasia

We are the damned of all the world
With sadness in our hearts
The wounded of the wars
We've been hung out to dry
You didn't want us anyway
And now we're making up our minds
You tell us how to run our lives
We run for youthanasia

We are the damned of all the world
With sadness in our hearts
The wounded of the wars
We run for youthanasia

 

... and even after all these years nothing has changed in that context... nor will!!!

[steven36]

If you was trapped and oppressed  like many Americans are  you would be violent too.you people watch too much TV witch shows  mostly the rich people .  It just depends were you live , in my neighborhood nothing bad ever happens, but you drive up the road aways  bad things happen every day . If you come to the USA without any money most likely you will to have live in and area were bad things happen unless you know somebody . The American  Dream died when  the Internet came along and they started free trade. Many immigrants  in the USA  live in homes in the ghetto made for  3 or 4 people  and they will be  like 10 or more  in one home . They don't  care about a vista they pay the cartel to sneak them in or they sneak in themselves. There is always plenty of farm work for them . You can always go down to Mexico and pay  and you can get in and it don't matter about no wall they have tunnels . 

[steven36]

11 hours ago, Togijak said:

@knowledge a real thought, because I have neither Fuckbook nor Trumpmedia (AKA Twitter) etc. Sounds for like more and more governments getting crazy 

Really  you would be exempt  from having to do such because of the country  you're from . They started  checking some countries travelers social media back in  September, 2017 what they are   changing  is  there   adding citizens of such countries as Brazil, China, India and Mexico to the check list.

 

All people from these countries can get in without them doing a background check.

 

Andorra ,Hungary , Norway , Australia, Iceland,  Portugal,  Austria , Ireland, San Marino , Belgium,  Italy, Singapore, Brunei ,Japan. Slovakia. Chile. Latvia, Slovenia, Czech Republic ,Liechtenstein, South Korea , Denmark, Lithuania, Spain, Estonia, Luxembourg, Sweden, Finland, Malta, Switzerland, France ,Monaco, Taiwan*, Germany , Netherlands.United Kingdom** , Greece, New Zealand

 

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html

 

Quote

 

Last September, the Trump administration announced that applicants for immigrant visas would be asked for social-media data, a proposal that would affect about 710,000 people a year. The new proposal would vastly expand that requirement to cover some 14 million people each year who apply for nonimmigrant visas.

The proposal covers 20 social media platforms. Most of them are based in the United States: Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Myspace, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine and YouTube. But several are based overseas: the Chinese sites Douban, QQ, Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo and Youku; the Russian social network VK; Twoo, which was created in Belgium; and Ask.fm, a question-and-answer platform based in Latvia.

But the new proposal would add a tangible new requirement for millions of people who apply to visit the United States for business or pleasure, including citizens of such countries as Brazil, China, India and Mexico.

 

 

Citizens of roughly 40 countries to which the United States ordinarily grants visa-free travel will not be affected by the requirement.

 

Efforts to collect social media information are not unique to the Trump administration. During the Obama administration, the department had begun asking visitors to voluntarily provide social media information, and had four pilot screening programs.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/world/americas/travelers-visa-social-media.html

 

[Akaneharuka]

Excuse me, I do not have facebook account how can I make the VISA ?

 

Easy go back to your home and play Facebook for five years and come again

 

 

 

*************************************

3 years ago My friend used to ask me about facebook.

 

Friend : Hey how many friends do you have on facebook ?

 

me : 7

 

Friend : What the hell are you doing ? I have 1200 friends on facebook !

 

me : .........

 

 

 

[steven36]

14 minutes ago, Akaneharuka said:

Excuse me, I do not have facebook account how can I make the VISA ?

 

Easy go back to your home and play Facebook for five years and come again

 

 

 

*************************************

3 years ago My friend used to ask me about facebook.

 

Friend : Hey how many friends do you have on facebook ?

 

me : 7

 

Friend : What the hell are you doing ? I have 1200 friends on facebook !

 

me : .........

 

 

 

No you don't have to provide  any social media background because  you are from Japan.  You don't even need a Visa to visit here for 90 days.

Visa Waiver Program

Quote

The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) is a program of the United States Government which allows citizens of specific countries to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or while in transit for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa

 

[Akaneharuka]

Oh.Thank you and sorry. It`s look-like my skimming reading skill made me in trouble again. @steven36

[knowledge-Spammer]

plus they want emails aswell

 

[steven36]

USA  not the only ones who do it ether,   Russia wants to see your salary and social media accounts before letting you visit  21 July 2017

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/russia/articles/russia-introduces-social-media-visa-application/

 

 

Russia has added a number of intrusive new questions to its already lengthy visa application forms, including requiring details of applicants’ Facebook and Twitter accounts, raising concerns that Britons will be deterred from visiting.

 

As well as any social media accounts, the embassy now asks for information about parents, bank accounts and children, whether they are travelling or not. The questions were introduced this week under a “miscellaneous information” section of the application, which already required details of every country visited in the last 10 years. It costs between £38.40 and £45.60 to acquire a visa for travel.

 

The online form asks applicants: “Do you have a social network account”, adding that “if the answer is positive, you have to indicate information of up to five social networks”.

It also asks for the applicant’s monthly income and planned expenditure while in the country, as well as details on any parents, living or deceased.

 

A spokesperson for the Russian embassy in London said the new form was introduced to “adopt the practices of our British counterparts when it comes to the whole range of questions that visa applicants need to answer” – suggesting Russian visitors must answer the same questions when visiting the UK. 

 

“That meets the current security requirements and... ensures equal rights of both Russian and British nationals in preparing documents for obtaining UK and Russian visa respectively,” the embassy added.

 

 

A spokesperson for the Home Office was unable to confirm whether the UK asks the same of Russian nationals wishing to visit the UK. 

 

Tour operators will be concerned that the additional requirements will further deter travellers from visiting Russia. The Foreign Office, whose website makes no reference to the new visa requirements, said there were around 150,000 visits to Russia made by British nationals in 2015. However, figures from the Russian visa service show that 87,863 visas were issued to Britons in 2015, a number which fell dramatically in 2016 to 42,524.

 

Cox and Kings runs a number of trips to Russia, including highlights of Moscow and St Petersburg and a longer exploration of the country’s Golden Ring.

 

Katie Cosstick, public relations manager at the tour operator, said Russia has been their best-selling tour for the last few years.

 

“[The visa application process] has always been very complex. When they announced [in November 2014] that everyone would have to go to London or Edinburgh to have their fingerprints take, we thought that would put people off but it didn’t make any difference to our tour numbers,” she said.

 

“If people want to go, they will go. It will just make them a bit wary of handing over that sort of data.

 

“For something like, how much you intend to spend - how will visitors know what is the right answer? What are the authorities looking for?

 

“Nobody seems to have information. The Foreign Office hasn’t changed its advice. We’re trying to get all the information together so we can advise our clients.

 

”Russia will next year host the World Cup, a tournament likely to raise the profile of some of the country’s tourism attractions, but also shine a spotlight on issues of hooliganism and homophobia.

Telegraph Travel included Russia in its list of 20 destinations to visit in 2017, in honour of the centenary of the 1917 revolutions.

 

Last month the US announced that consular officials are now allowed to ask for social media usernames going back five years as well as request email address and phone numbers.

------

But  what the OP  fails to say and many  other  news rag sites in the USA 38 countries don't need a visa at all to visit and there exempt trough the  visa waiver program but  the full truth  never gets hits  So they only tell part of the story.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program

 

 

I don't  agree  with it because  it messes with freedom of speech  in those countries that you need a VISA  to visit , but if you don't like the  USA and want to talk bad about the Country  on social media you should just stay home anyways.  Even in the workplace many employers in the USA  check you're facebook   its nothing new ,even under Obama the Govt was asking for  facebook  to some visitors in 2016 . And Facebook has done already done sold you're data anyways for a profit  .

 

U.S. government begins asking foreign travelers about social media  12/22/2016

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/foreign-travelers-social-media-232930

 

It was 1st approved  under Obama  he signed it into law just Trump keeps amending it . The reason they amended it looked bad that he was only questioning people they picked out and many seen it as they was targeting  certain people ,this way they target anyone who wants a temporary visa  and not just pick you out  because they think you are a threat . Anyone who is in Government and such  it want even apply to them  they always get the VIP  treatment.

 

Sort of like when  Bill Clinton signed free trade into law and Bush got the blame for all the jobs going overseas  . The left wing media  is going to blame the right regardless if it was the left who introduced it. And after they blamed Bush for it now they criticize Trump for trying to fix it ,witch that was the reason he got voted in and if he don't fix the economy he  will be be leaving  in a few years  .

 

 

Quote

 

 

briandear 1 day ago
To get a visa for France, I had to provide my full financial details -- bank statements, information on investments, etc. I also had to provide an FBI background check. To get a visa for China, you can be denied for content of social media posts. In Thailand, you can be arrested upon arrival if you've ever written a blog post critical of the king. The UK can bar entry based on the prior speech of applicants: rapper Tyler, the Creator was banned from entry. Right wing journalists have been denied entry to the UK, even a very popular talk radio host from the US has been denied entry into the UK for nothing more than his opinions -- despite no criminal record or any other "threat." Julien Blanc, an American "dating coach" has been denied entry by Britain, Australia and Brazil because he's a YouTube star "pickup artist."

Let's not pretend the US is unique in actually screening visa applicants and choosing to decide who can enter and who can not. I'm getting tired of the self-righteous condemnation of the United States when pretty much every country in the world discriminates in visa issuance. But the immigration policies of India, Mexico, Japan, Korea or Australia are far less interesting in this click-bait media world in which we live.

 

 

 

[plb4333]

On 3/30/2018 at 5:10 AM, Recruit said:

 

The State Department wants to require all US visa applicants, both immigrant and non, disclose their social media handles to the US government, CNN reports. In documents that the department will file to the Federal Register tomorrow, it proposes that nearly every individual applying for a US visa be required to hand over any social media handles used on certain platforms in the past five years as well as submit any telephone numbers and email addresses used during that same time period.

 

Previously, this information was only requested from visa applicants who required more rigorous scrutiny -- such as those who had traveled to regions with notable terrorist activity. But once enacted, these rule changes will require nearly all applicants submit this information, with the only potential exceptions being those applying for diplomatic and official visas. However, even they may have to provide their social media info, as the State Department's documents only say "most" won't be "routinely" asked for it.

 

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security introduced a new rule that allows social media information to be included in immigrants' official records. But the move to incorporate social media handles and searches into visa application protocols precedes the Trump administration.

 

The State Department's proposed changes also include questions about immigrants' travel, whether they've been deported or removed from another country and if any of their relatives have been associated with terrorist activities. Applicants will also have the option to disclose social media handles used on platforms not listed on the questionnaire. Approximately 15 million visa applicants stand to be affected by the change.

 

Once the planned rule change is filed to the Federal Register on Friday, the public will have 60 days to comment on it.

 

Source

 

No social history, no visa

 

This referred to article does not mention what the subject line says, -> top of post. There is nothing stating you have to have social media info at all. Only that, if you do have social media info, you have to give it. And this is only on some people, routinely its not asked. Far cry from the user's post stating 'you have' to furnish social media. This puts to rest those people who think, what if you don't have social media info? Its not a prob at all.

[saner827]

They need our info in this forum? How they verify?

[steven36]

1 hour ago, sage said:

As entry Visa is a privilege granted by the country to a visitor or an immigrant to that country, it can and will impose what rules it deems appropriate. 

No country is going go threw every singe account no ways even if you're asked,  even facebook don't do this . They use it  as a way to deny you access if they don't want to  let you in and if you was anybody to begin with  they wouldn't have to ask they all ready  have you're history  if  you are famous and can deny you access  if they didn't want you in .   It's like Amy Winehouse  before she died  ,Only crime she committed was  she was a druggie and a drunk and she was denied  a visa to USA  because  the whole world already had access to what she done .

Quote

 

Amy Winehouse denied US visa for Grammys. ... However a spokesman for the 24-year-old, who admitted herself to a drug rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago, said in a statement that the US Embassy in London had turned down her visa application.Feb 8, 2008

 

 

 

This was before they had visa wavier  program  even and in many countries its tit for tat when it comes to visa, if the USA ask for info  then when someone from the USA go to such and  country they going to ask USA citizens for there Social media as well.  Before long they all will be done adopted  it . Also if you have any kind of criminal recored  chances are slim they will let you visit anyway . In the USA if you ever been convicted of a felony they take you're  passport , right to own a gun and right to vote away . Also they take peoples passports away for non criminal stuff too .

 

[nIGHT]

 

Quote

https://imgur.com/a/USbXJ