The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a 60-day notice and comment on a proposal to collect information pertaining to social-media handles and associated social media platform names from applicants in an effort to verify identification, streamline public safety screening and related inspections.

The proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2025, is in line with President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threat” which directs the implementation of uniform vetting procedures.

The USCIS will accept comments to the proposed rule until May 5, 2025.

If the proposed rule officially becomes part of USCIS vetting standards, it will follow the U.S. Department of State 2019 rule which requires U.S. visa applicants to disclose their social media handles and other social media related information on their DS-160 Nonimmigrant Online Visa Applications and their DS-260 Immigrant Online Visa Applications.

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Copyright 2025. This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This article may be changed with or without notice. The opinions expressed in this article are those of Bridgeway Immigration only.