The United States (US) Mission in Nigeria has formally instructed Nigerians applying for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas to adjust their social media accounts’ privacy settings to “public.”
The F, M, and J visas affect those seeking to travel to the United States of America for educational and exchange purposes. The visas are in the nonimmigrant category.
The announcement was made by the United States Diplomatic Mission Nigeria on its official X page on Monday.
The policy takes immediate effect and is meant to complement vetting efforts by embassy officials who determine applicants’ identities and admissibility to the United States.
The message said the mission uses all available information in its visa screening to identify visa applicants who are not eligible to be admitted to the United States.
The mission said it is also its responsibility to determine those who can pose a threat to American national security.
In a statement put on its website on June 18, 2025, the United States Department of State said under the new policy, the country’s officials would conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, offline and online, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications.
The department said this was why all applicants for the mentioned categories had to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to ‘public.
It further added that every visa screening was a national security decision. You can read more on the US State Department website here.
