The U.S government has mandated Nigerian visa applicants to disclose their social media profiles and activities in the last five years, warning that failure to comply with the requirement could potentially result in visa denial.
But the Federal Government in a swift reaction, said it will reciprocate the new US visa policy with equal measures.
The US Mission in Nigeria issued the warning yesterday via a tweet on its official X handle, saying defaulters could also be denied future entry into the United States.
Vanguard reports that the latest visa rule is an expansion of an earlier and similar regulation targeted at international student visa applicants, which required them to list and also remove the privacy settings from their social media handles to allow for proper vetting of the applications.
The Mission explained that the regulation is part of efforts by the Trump administration to “ensure national security” in the ongoing immigration tightening measures.
As part of the new rule, visa applicants are now required to provide information on their User ID, including the email address, Username, handle, and telephone number on all the platforms and applications they have used in the last five years.
Applicants who have also used more than one platform or more than one username, handle or telephone number on a single platform within the same period, are also mandated to list them in the DS-160 form.
“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last five years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit.
“Omitting social media information on your application could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future U.S visas.
“Enter information associated with your online presence, including the types of online providers\platforms, applications and websites that you use to collaborate, share information and interact with others. List the username, handle, screen name and other identifiers associated with your social media profile,” the Mission said.
In a similar development, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, USCIS, has started tightening citizenship rules with the introduction of a ‘Good Moral Character’ policy.
The ‘Good Moral Character’ policy, which introduces stricter guidelines for naturalisation applicants, requires immigration officers to go beyond checks of criminal records to conducting holistic evaluations of an applicant’s behaviour, societal contribution and adherence to community norms.
According to the updated USCIS notice, immigration officers are now expected to look at how someone lives day-to-day, how they contribute to their community, and whether they follow US social and legal norms, which may include volunteering or community involvement, finishing school or continuing education, holding a steady job with legal income, and paying taxes on time, among others.
Reacting to the new US visa rules, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kimiebi Ebienfa, said the Ministry is aware of the development, having been informed ahead of the announcement by the US Mission in Nigeria.
He, however, said the Federal Government will carry out reciprocal action, stressing that US citizens intending to visit Nigeria will be subjected to the same measures.
“We are aware of the development. I think it’s part of the new measures they informed us before now that they will implement. Well, they mentioned those issues before.
“So, on things of this nature, the best we can do is to carry out reciprocal action. Some people from the US might want to apply for a visa, and we will adopt the same measures.
‘’I think that’s what the government might do because anything visa is reciprocal. What you are mandating our nationals to do, we will also mandate your citizens applying for our visa to do,’’ he said.
Continuing, he said the Federal Government will convene an inter-agency meeting to agree on the best way to respond to the new visa regulation.
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