cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/28688755

On Tuesday, the official account for the visa branch of the US Embassy in Tokyo posted an important note for those applying for a nonimmigrant visa — or DS-160 — for the States. According to the notice, applications must include accurate information regarding their SNS accounts that they have used within the last five years. Anyone who fails to comply with this request won’t be allowed to enter the country.

While the US Department of State (DOS) and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have been checking the social media accounts of visa applicants and immigrants since at least 2019, Susanne Heubel, senior counsel at New York-based immigration law firm Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, told US Today that up until his last January these searches have been “almost negligible.”