In today’s digital age where so much of our lives play out across social media platforms, it should come as no surprise that the U.S. government is paying closer attention to the online footprint of prospective immigrants. Social media has become a new screening tool for immigration officials to gauge an applicant’s background, beliefs, and activities that may impact admissibility and eligibility for a green card or visa.
While the monitoring of social media accounts by immigration authorities has generated controversies around privacy and free speech, it’s important for those seeking to immigrate to the United States to understand how social media affects immigration and could potentially be scrutinized as part of the vetting process.
What Information is Checked?
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the Department of Homeland Security‘s immigration arm is focused on reviewing public-facing social media posts and information. This includes:
- Statements of support or opposition to policies/ideologies contrary to U.S. principles
- Membership/association with groups that promote violence
- Evidence of criminal activity or fraud
- Public safety threats or security risk indicators
- General background information to validate an applicant’s identity claims
However, USCIS is prohibited by law from viewing private messaging communications or requesting third-party social media information without consent. The social media vetting is limited to what is publicly visible online.
Why Review Social Media?
USCIS states that evaluating social media is simply an extension of longstanding procedures where immigration officers review publicly available information to verify an applicant’s background and personal details. In the past this involved checking publicly available documents, news sources, and other traditional data points.
The use of social media monitoring aims to enhance visa and immigration vetting to identify potential threats to public safety and national security. It is also meant to detect fraud, such as an applicant misrepresenting their identity, employment, activities, or relationships on official immigration forms.
Who is Checked?
While USCIS has confirmed that it does not conduct social media checks for every single immigration application, it has implemented targeted monitoring policies in certain higher-risk cases where enhanced scrutiny is deemed necessary.
This includes:
- Applicants from countries identified as terrorist safe havens, sponsors/associates of such applicants
- Applications with discrepancies, immigration violations, or indicators of fraud
- Individuals identified as meeting criteria for further vetting due to security concerns
Naturalized U.S. citizens are not subject to social media checks by USCIS, though other agencies could potentially take social media activity into consideration under different authorities.
What Should Applicants Do?
For those applying for immigration benefits, being aware of your overall social media presence is advisable. While certainly not grounds for automatic denial or revocation, controversial social media postings that contradict other evidence in your application or indicate concerning affiliations could prompt additional scrutiny.
As a best practice, it’s wise to avoid posting or engaging with content promoting extremist views, hate speech, or anything that could be reasonably construed as a security risk. Use caution in documenting cross-border travel that may violate admissions requirements. And remember, any public social posts about crimes or fraud you were involved in will be seen by vetting officials.
While monitoring social media remains a point of debate, the U.S. government aims to leverage all available public information sources as part of its mission to uphold national interests through the immigration process. Being mindful of your social footprint is just one aspect of presenting your complete and honest background to facilitate approval.
How the Immigration Attorneys of Siri & Glimstad Can Help
The immigration attorneys of Siri & Glimstad understand that the immigration process is daunting, but we are here to help. Our attorneys have experience and expertise in all aspects of immigration and we treat all of our clients with the personal relationship they deserve. Contact us today.
