Latest news with #visaApplicants
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Zawya
Cameroon: United States (U.S.) Embassy in Yaoundé Announces Changes to Visa Procedures and Fees
Effective immediately, and in keeping with the U.S. Government's global efforts to tighten U.S. immigration requirements, the U.S. Embassy Yaoundé is revising its visa procedures, as well as the validity periods and issuance fees for most visa classifications. Cameroonian citizens who successfully apply for a tourist, business, exchange, or student visa are now issued a single-entry, three-month validity visa, with a significantly reduced issuance fee of $35 or its equivalent in FCFA (down from $215) to be paid if the visa is approved. Temporary work visas now also have a single-entry, three-month validity, with a reduced issuance fee of $45. A U.S. visa permits the visa holder to travel to the United States up until the visa's expiration date. The traveler's authorized duration of stay in the United States is distinct from the visa validity and is determined by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (that is, the U.S. immigration authorities travelers encounter upon arrival at port of entry). In addition, the Embassy is suspending indefinitely the nonimmigrant visa interview waiver program that allowed some visa applicants who had had prior visas to apply without coming into the Embassy for an interview. Henceforth, all nonimmigrant visa applicants applying in Cameroon are now required to appear for an in-person interview at the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé. The Embassy remains committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States while maintaining the integrity of its visa adjudication and issuance process. We strongly encourage all applicants to visit the Embassy's website at for detailed procedural information and to schedule a visa interview accordingly. Applicants should also carefully review the legally-established visa eligibility criteria prior to paying for an appointment to try to assess objectively whether they are likely to qualify for the desired visa under U.S. law. Doing an objective self-assessment against the legal criteria will save applicants time, effort, and money on a visa application that is likely to be denied. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Cameroon.
BreakingNews.ie
23-06-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Students seeking US visas to face ‘thorough vetting' of social media
Students applying for J1 visas will undergo 'comprehensive and thorough vetting' of their social media, the US Embassy has announced. The changes also apply for other exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications. Advertisement All applicants are asked to list all their social media profiles, and make their accounts publicly accessible. Failure to do so could lead to a visa being rejected. The embassy said that it will use all available information in its visa screening to identify those who 'are inadmissible' to the US, including those who pose a threat to national security. In a statement on Monday, it said that a US visa 'is a privilege, not a right'. Advertisement It said that it protects the US by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety, adding: 'Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J non-immigrant classifications. 'To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J non-immigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public'. 'Visa applicants are required to list all social media user names 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. Advertisement 'Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.' Ireland Irish citizens evacuated from Iran Read More The US Embassy in Dublin will resume scheduling F, M, and J non-immigrant visa applications 'soon'. It added: 'Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. 'The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission.' Advertisement
Washington Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
State Dept. restarts student visa interviews with tougher social media rules
The State Department is restarting interviews for new student visas and installing stricter social media guidelines, including a requirement that all applicants have their accounts set to public to be scrutinized for hostility toward the United States, according to a State Department cable sent to embassies and consulates Wednesday and obtained by The Washington Post.
The Independent
31-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Federal officials to vet social media accounts of visa applicants heading to Harvard
Federal officials are set to start reviewing the social media accounts of visa applicants who plan to attend, work at or visit Harvard University for any signs of antisemitism, marking the latest development in a clash between the Trump administration and the Ivy League school. A cable sent Friday signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and obtained by The Associated Press accused the university of failing to keep violence and antisemitism off campus. It said the vetting measure will help consular officers identify applicants with a history of those offenses 'and to duly consider their visa eligibility under U.S. immigration law.' The measure was sent to all U.S. embassies and consulates, and it takes effect immediately. It will serve as a pilot program that could be expanded more broadly, according to the cable. Harvard did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. The university was the first to openly defy White House demands for changes at elite schools the administration has criticized as hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism. Since then, the federal government has stripped the nation's oldest and wealthiest university of $2.6 billion in federal grants, forcing it to self-fund much of its research operation. President Donald Trump has said he wants to revoke the university of its tax-exempt status. Last week, Harvard sued the federal government after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem revoked its ability to host foreign students at its campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A federal judge has since blocked the move. More than a quarter of Harvard's student body at its Cambridge campus are foreign students. Most are graduate students, coming from more than 100 countries. Earlier this week, the State Department paused the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students looking to study in the U.S., saying it was preparing to expand the screening of their activity on social media. It's unclear whether that pause has been lifted. The new measure expands on Trump's previous administration introducing reviews of visa applicants' social media accounts. It remained in place during former President Joe Biden's administration. The measure instructs officials to note whether a visa applicant does not have an online presence or has their social media accounts set to private and whether that 'may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant's credibility.' 'If you are not satisfied that the applicant credibility, and to your personal satisfaction, meets the standards required by the visa classification for which he is applying, refuse the applicant,' the cable said. Officials have also been instructed to go beyond just reviewing social media accounts and to conduct a broader investigation of the person's online presence, according to the cable.
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- General
- Bloomberg
US Orders Halt to New Student Visa Interviews, Politico Says
Trump administration is ordering US embassies and consular sections to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as it weighs requiring social media vetting for all applicants, Politico reports, citing a cable.
