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Monday, August 18, 2025

Nigerian visa applicants must include five-year social media history in application forms: U.S

The Mission advised applicants to certify that the information in their visa application was true and correct before signing and submitting.

and • August 18, 2025
U.S. visa and Nigeria’s International passport
U.S. visa and Nigeria’s International passport

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria has mandated full disclosure of social media usernames for all visa applicants to tighten immigration rules under the Donald Trump administration.  

The social media policy, first announced in June, was limited to only student visa applications. The direction came amid anti-Israel activism on U.S. campuses.

The Mission on Monday expanded the scope of social media vetting from F1 to all visa categories and stated that applicants who skip that section —declining to disclose social media details— may be denied visas.

“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form,” a statement by the U.S. Mission in Nigeria said Monday. “Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”

The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in June paused the scheduling of visa appointments for international students to devise a strategy for identifying antisemitic candidates based on their social media posts.

Mr Trump sanctioned Ivy League institutions including Harvard , Columbia, and Brown universities for what he deemed as failure to protect Jewish students during pro-Palestine protests on campus grounds last year.

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