The U.S. now requires your Instagram and Flickr activity when you apply for a visa
Jun 3, 2019
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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If you plan to apply for a U.S. visa, here comes an unpleasant surprise. The State Department is now requiring almost all visa applicants to submit their social media usernames, including your Flickr and Instagram accounts.
The change was proposed back in March 2018 and it has just been approved. In addition to your Flickr and Instagram, there are other social media listed, such as Facebook, Twitter, and others. If the social network isn’t listed in the visa application form, you’re required to provide the details yourself. You are also required to provide previous email addresses and phone numbers you’ve had in the past five years. According to the department, this has been decided in order to improve the screening process and confirm the applicants’ identity.
As the Associated Press reports, this rule had previously been applied only to certain categories of travelers, such as people who had traveled to areas controlled by a terrorist organization. It’s estimated that around 65,000 applicants per year had fallen into this category. However, the new decision is going to be applied to almost all applicants. It includes both immigrants and non-immigrants, as well as those who travel to the U.S. for business or education.
The new rules exclude only certain diplomatic and official visa types. But, they are applicable to almost all other applicants and they’re expected to affect about 15 million foreigners who apply for the U.S. visas each year.
Back when the new rule was first proposed, the American Civil Liberties Union suggested that this method of “identity confirmation” was neither effective nor fair. They added that “it would cause people to self-censor themselves online.” And I tend to agree. Okay, everyone can see your public profiles, but you choose what you want to be public. You can always delete content or simply set the social media accounts to be private and hide everything you want to hide. And also, why on Earth would anyone ask for your Flickr activity?
[via The Associated Press]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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34 responses to “The U.S. now requires your Instagram and Flickr activity when you apply for a visa”
How the hell do these things pass? Who the hell is voting for this?
See the Movie VICE and you will get an idea on how things pass ;)
Pass? It’s a rule change. The public did not vote on this, and had little input through commentary. This is a department of government asserting its authority to gain power.
Scott Valentine exactly! How the hell do we not get input here?
True?
What if I dont have an Instagram? :D
Then you are extra suspect. Face Guantanamo. And watch out what you write HERE!
…*eyes their Instagram… cackles*
Thank God not my pornhub activity
Instagram / Flickr only !?! Why not Facebook also ?
FB as well. Read the whole article.
রিফাত জামিল ইউসুফজাই Facebook owns IG. Safe to assume that platform too.
Guess I have some accounts to re-name…
I am not an IG Model, whats the point? LOL
Of course, all this means is that anyone who wants to do us harm, will create sock-puppet accounts with “I love the USA” and kitten pictures all over it so they look innocent.
Screw the terrorist shit hole :p
Why? zuckerburg passes everything to the NSA anyway…
lol because Huawei is spying on us, right? lol
That’s what happens when you elect a man-child ?
I really do not get this country..
“Flickr activity” is an oxymoron ?
This is why I only use Discover Card.
Who posts compromising stuff on themselves to social media sites? They’re just screening for idiots, that’s all.
They ain’t gettin my social media connections. And I’m not going there. So they can just suck it.
Security theatre needs to wind down before I’ll even consider visiting another country. Your tourist traps can rot.
Many employers do check on your social media account before they interview you; be warn.
Be *Warned*
When I look at potential employees, the ones that can’t spell go right to the bottom of the list ;)
Daniel Shortt English is not even a second language to me; a third maybe. I am sure the 3rd language you are fluent at is no better than my English.
lol
You’ve just been added to “no fly list”…
I have no problem with that at all
People show who they really are on social media
Not a bad idea for the government to see that before issuing visas etc.
I’d say the opposite is true. People advertise only the best of themselves online. A Utopian existence for all to be jealous of.
I cross over into Detroit from Windsor Ontario Canada with some frequency. And although I’ve been doing it for well over 50+ years, every once in a while I get pulled into secondary and they pull a deep dive on me. I don’t get it, it’s a relatively new thing, and it took place just last weekend during the Detroit Grand Prix. And yes, they did in fact ask for all of this info just mentioned in the piece here.
There are some strange things taking place with policy and restrictions for just the ‘average’ guy crossing over. I can’t imagine the level for scrutiny applied to those from ‘active countries’ and people with faces of color or ethnicity.
It’s that legal weed lol.
I’ll need additional pages for my application to list all my emails and social media usernames