US to require social media details from all visa applicants

[JohnM]

This snippet: U.S. Now Requiring Social Media Details From All Visa Applicants also popped up on the ABC news tonight.

I've got nothing to hide and my social media footprint is as small as it is boring, but I'm wondering how it will impact on someone like me who already has a US Visa instead of an ESTA because of travel to places like Iran and Sudan.

I'm due to hit LOTFAP in a couple of weeks, so I guess I had better make a list of all old email addresses and social media links, just in case I get quizzed.

 

[odysseus]

Fortunately it doesn't sound like it applies to ESTA, but that's grubby overreach.

 

[tdimdad]

I did an ESTA application in February and they asked for social media accounts as an optional question. To that I provided my LinkedIn profile name just to offer something.

 

[cove]

JohnM I can tell you that Mrscove got whisked away to the “interview room /holding place” when she had a brand new passport so I went thru and picked up all the bags and waited and waited in Los Angeles. After passing the interview she was about a kilometre along in the building and couldn’t see me. Has only happened once in 41 years of going there and it was not a nasty experience at all for her.
Some of the boonies places you go to are considered suspicious like Iran and Sudan.
I know you go there as a tourist so you should be fine.

 

[cove]

In 41 years I still only know one Australian who was denied entry to the US. He was interviewed and failed the questioning on how he could be a tourist for so many months with so little in the way of funds to do it. He had planned to do casual work in the US which did not match his visa application.
They sent him to a hotel in West Century and after 3 nights there he was flown back to Perth all at his expense. That was a costly exercise for trying to cheat the system at that time.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm due to hit LOTFAP in a couple of weeks, so I guess I had better make a list of all old email addresses and social media links, just in case I get quizzed.

Its always good to be prepared but its only for new applicants, so hopefully there wont be any retrospectivity.

If I was applying now, I wonder if I would come under suspicion if I declared "I have no social media accounts" ?

 

[AisleSeat]

A pointless exercise if your visa application includes the government trawling all the social networks you're part of to make their decision. Applicants will just create dummy accounts or scrub any "suspicious" content from current accounts. A market will be created for people to sell "clean" accounts as well.

 

[Lynda2475]

I did a new ESTA a couple of weeks ago as have a new passport, the social media question was optional, i left it blank and still received my approval within 2 hours.

I do wonder how they check if you have enough funds these days, as last 2 trips ive arrived in country with only an assortment of atm and credit cards.

 

[Denali]

Well I guess I might be denied based on my social media likes, dislikes and comments.

USA is becoming more and more the "cough hole" country that Trump once talked about.

 

[Hvr]

Tell them you're a member of FlyerTalk and see if the TSA give you an extra grope.

 

[Pleb Status]

'Scrubbing' accounts may be a pointless (and possibly flag raising) exercise as the NSA will have a full backup copy where required...

I have started to avoid the US due to the amount of 'information' they already require. If this new requirement was added to the ESTA process, I would eliminate all non essential travel to the US (which is all travel ATM). My lack of any social media accounts (apart from here) would most likely cause issues which I could not be bothered to address....

 

[Lynda2475]

My lack of any social media accounts (apart from here) would most likely cause issues

Why? Not everyone lives their lives online.

 

[Pleb Status]

Why? Not everyone lives their lives online.

If they were to accept the 'no social media accounts' answer without any further questions and/or research whatsoever (but you are in the relevant demographic) then it is pointless asking the question in the first place.

However, they do also ask you to answer yes/no if you have ever been involved in terrorism, so they do have a track record of asking pointless questions....

 

[Himeno]

I do wonder how they check if you have enough funds these days, as last 2 trips ive arrived in country with only an assortment of atm and credit cards.

No idea.
Had an issue entering the US at BOS a few years ago.
Had a DONE3 issued by an agent in Japan, so was priced in JPY.
CBP agent wanted to see the ticket and saw the price and assumed the 6 digit figure, with "JPY" next to it, was USD and thought I'd paid $700,000 USD for the flights, and based on that assumption, assumed I had no money and/or was doing something bad.

Kept trying to find any reason not to let me in, due to a baseless assumption that I'd paid 100x more for the ticket then I really had and rejected any attempt I made to tell it the price was in Japanese Yen and not US Dollars.
She backed down and let me through when I said "credit card".

 

[Daver6]

Not seeing the point of this if you've locked down your social media accounts in the first place.

As for creating a second account to just give them, sounds like a stupid idea to me. Once they see you have a real one, they don't even need access to ie. False declaration on the form should be more than enough to deny you entry.

 

[AisleSeat]

Also another thought, as I work in tertiary education.
This will affect all international students wanting to study in the US, whether fully paid or on exchange/study abroad. There is already a downturn in international students wanting to study there, so I can only imagine that this may drive even more away.

 

[Quickstatus]

Does AFF appear on the list of social media platforms?.

Status runs should be easier to explain and trip reports will also aid in your bonafides.

 

[Lynda2475]

I've always opted not to provide social media on the optional ESTA question, if this changes in future i'll be truthful. But my facebook is locked down to only friends (not even friends of friends) , add Linked In (which isnt really social just an online resume), AFF and Whirlpool and I dont see what insight it would given them, other than I love to travel and watch too much TV. I dont instagram or tweet and have no interest in politics.

Email is an interesting one, are they admitting they would try and hack your email? Otherwise again emails aren't public what would they hope to learn? Id struggle to even remember the format of some work email addys for jobs in the last 5 years.

Similarly, I have no memory of old work mobile numbers I no longer have (ive always kept my personal phone and work mobiles separate); nor the many travel sims I bought for a trip to use the data and then binned when I go home. One would hope honesty around but I don't remember the number would not be grounds for being denied entry - at the time there was no reason to keep records. Further in Australia mobile numbers are only quarantined for 6 months before being reallocated, so over 5 years a number can change hands 10 times - that is 10 different back packers they need to differentiate between.

 

[juddles]

.........

I've got nothing to hide .........

Hopefully our recent joint TR never gets picked up by anyone

 

[DC3]

So, is everyone saying good things about the most intelligent , smartest President of the USA?