MANILA — The United States Embassy in Manila reminded visa applicants to set their social media accounts to “public” as part of the application process.

In an advisory issued on April 1, the embassy expanded this requirement beyond students, exchange visitors, and specialty workers to include additional categories of applicants.

“Effective March 30, in addition to Students and Exchanges (F, M, and J), and Specialty Occupations (H-1B and their H-4 dependents), the following visa applicants, regardless of age, must also now change their privacy settings and profiles to ‘public’ on all social media platforms to complete the visa process,” the advisory said.

The newly included categories are:

• Fiancé(e) visa applicants (K-1, K-2, and K-3 visas)
• Certain personal employees or domestic workers (A-3, C-3, and G-5 visas)
• Trainee or special education exchange visitors (H-3 and H-4 dependents)
• Cultural and religious visitors (Q, R-1, and R-2 visas)
• Informants, witnesses, and victims of crimes (S, T, and U visas)

The embassy said social media information helps determine visa eligibility. Since 2019, applicants have been required to provide social media usernames on immigrant and nonimmigrant visa forms.

Applicants must list all usernames, handles, or identifiers used on any platform in the past five years and certify the accuracy of the information. Failure to disclose these details may result in visa denial and possible ineligibility for future applications.