By Chantelle Muzanenhamo
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean students aspiring to study or participate in exchange programmes in the United States are now navigating a more rigorous visa application process, following the U.S. government’s recent policy shift requiring increased online scrutiny.
Effective immediately, all applicants for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas must set their social media accounts to “public” or risk having their visa applications denied.
In a statement posted on Twitter on June 23, 2025, the U.S. Embassy in London announced, “Effective immediately, all individuals applying for an F, M, or J non-immigrant visa are requested to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media accounts to ‘public’ to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under U.S. law.”
This new directive means Zimbabwean students seeking university admission, vocational training, or cultural exchange programmes in the U.S. will need to ensure their online profiles are accessible to visa officials.
Previously, applicants were required to list their social media handles on the DS-160 visa form, a practice introduced in 2019. Now, officials are explicitly instructed to review public profiles as part of the vetting process.
The policy change follows a June 18, 2025 announcement by the U.S. State Department, which expanded screening measures to include deeper online behaviour scrutiny.
“We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security,” the department stated.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson clarified that consular officers will now only accept public profiles for review, suggesting that private accounts may be viewed as an attempt to conceal information.
The spokesperson emphasized that officials are looking for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.”
For Zimbabwean applicants, this policy introduces a new layer of complexity. Many students use pseudonyms, nicknames, or privacy settings on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Failure to make profiles accessible or omitting social media information could lead to visa rejection and potentially impact future eligibility.
“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years… Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas,” stated the U.S. Mission in Mali on June 24.
Given the popularity of F visas among Zimbabwean students many of whom rely on scholarships these changes could significantly affect their academic plans. Applicants may now be compelled to allow U.S. officials to review their online posts, comments, and associations, including content shared in local languages such as Shona or Ndebele.
The U.S. government insists that these measures are part of its broader effort to safeguard national security. “Every visa adjudication is a national security decision,” the Department of State emphasized.
While student visa appointments, which were temporarily paused in May, are now resuming, only those who meet the new online transparency standards will proceed in the process.
Zimbabwean applicants are advised to review and adjust their social media privacy settings, ensure their usernames are accurately listed, and scrutinize their online content before submitting applications. The U.S. Embassy in Harare has yet to issue a formal local advisory but is expected to do so via its official channels.
Applicants uncertain about their eligibility are encouraged to seek legal or academic advice before proceeding with their visa applications, to avoid potential disqualification under the new digital transparency requirements.