Visa for the United States: Why you will need to provide data from your social networks if you want to obtain a visa

If you are considering applying for a US visa or renewing the one you already have, you will also need to think about what you post on Facebook or Twitter.

And, as announced by the State Department, starting this month, most people applying for a visa for the United States will have to send their social network data with their applications.

But not that.

In accordance with the new regulations, interested parties must provide, in addition to all the documentation already required, the e-mail addresses and telephone numbers that they have used over the past five years.

The new information required, announced for the first time last year and coming into force this month, follows an order by President Donald Trump of 2017 and, according to the government, aims to strengthen security screening of applicants visa.

"We are constantly working to find mechanisms that improve our screening processes to protect US citizens, while supporting legitimate travel in the United States," the department said.

When proposed in 2018, the authorities estimated that the proposal would affect 14.7 million people a year.

Several civil society groups have focused on the measure.

The United States Civil Liberties Union baderted that "there is no evidence that such social media control is effective or fair" and felt that "it is the only way to control social networks". it would incite people to censor themselves on the Internet, any joke can be taken seriously.

Who should offer the new information?

According to the new regulations, most people who apply for a US visa must send information on their social networks.

As a result, the new visa application forms list a series of social platforms and require the applicant to provide the account names that he or she currently uses or in the last five years.

The request also includes the possibility of offering optional information on the accounts of other social networks that are not on the form.

Some candidates for diplomatic and official visas will be exempted from the new measures, according to the state department.

However, people traveling to the United States for tourism, for work or for study must provide their information.

Previously, only candidates who needed additional research, such as people in areas of the world controlled by radical groups or certain countries, were required to provide this information.

According to immigration sources consulted by the American newspaper The Hill, anyone who lies about his use of social networks could face "serious consequences for immigration".