US visa officers review applicants' online presence. You need to know the current rules before you renew a visa or invite family to visit.
The online visa application (DS-160 for temporary visas) asks for the social media accounts (user names) you used in the past five years on a list of platforms. You must answer truthfully and completely. Leaving out accounts can cause a refusal.
Who is asked to make profiles public
The State Department now performs an online presence review for many visa types and asks applicants to set all social media profiles to public before the interview:
F, M and J students and exchange visitors (since June 2025).
H-1B workers and their H-4 dependents (since December 15, 2025).
More categories were added in 2026, including several family, religious worker and other visas, and, according to law firm reports, TN, TD and I visas from October 1, 2026.
The list keeps growing. Before any visa appointment, check the current announcements on travel.state.gov and your embassy's website.
The ESTA form asks for social media information. In December 2025, CBP proposed making five years of social media history mandatory for ESTA. Check the official ESTA site for the current form before your family applies.
Make sure your work history, education and travel on LinkedIn and other profiles match what you put on visa forms. Inconsistencies cause questions.
Do not delete accounts or posts right before an application to hide them. The form asks about the past five years.
Think before posting or sharing content that supports violence, threatens anyone, or could be read as support for a terrorist group. Officers can view public posts and old posts.
Remember that private messages and group chats can be shared by others.
Border officers (CBP) can inspect phones and laptops at airports and land borders, including those of visa holders and green card holders. Answer questions truthfully. You can ask to speak with a supervisor if you have concerns.
Forgetting an old account on the DS-160.
Setting profiles to public the night before the interview after deleting old content.
Assuming the rules from your last visa still apply. They changed in 2025 and 2026.