Under the policy of the Department of State of the USA, from June 2019 if you are going to the USA to work or study, while filling in a DS160 application form, you have to indicate the data of your profiles in the social networks, you have been using for the last five years, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Utube, etc.
It will provide the USA government with an access to your photos, locations, your birth date, family members’ data, previous addresses, data on your trips, as well as to all your personal information usually shared by social networks users.
According to a representative of the Department of State of the USA, in such a way they try to improve the screening procedure, aimed at protecting USA citizens, at the same time encouraging the legitimate tourism to this country. In accordance with the forecast by the Department of State of the USA, the new rules will affect 14,7 million people annually. Diplomats and officials applying for a USA visa will not be affected by the rules.
Previously only USA visa applicants from the territories controlled by terrorist groups had to provide such information. Currently most USA non-immigration visa applicants must do it.
Of course, you can specify in your visa application that you do not use any social networks. However, according to an official representative of the Department of State of the USA, a person, lying to employees of the USA embassy or consulate about accounts in the social networks, will face serious immigration consequences.
You are asked to hand over only the name, indicated in your accounts of the social networks, yet, although in 2017 a possibility of demanding account passwords was discussed.
Thus, taking into account the latest demands to USA visa applicants, all applicants should thoroughly consider the information, posted at their social network accounts. Otherwise, they will have to explain the visa officer that their actual personal data differ from their profile in the social networks only because you wanted to prettify your image in the virtual reality but it is unlikely to convince him/her.
