(Source – AP) The United States now wants to know the social-media user names of people applying for visas, part of stepped up screening of foreign visitors and immigrants.
The change, first announced last year and taking effect this month, follows on a 2017 order by President Donald Trump requiring heightened vetting for visa applicants, according to a State Department official.
An estimated 14 million travelers and 710,000 immigrants to the US each year will be affected by the changes, according to notes in the Federal Register.
The official said national security is the top priority and every would-be traveler or immigrant already faced screening, including requirements to list their travel history, family member information, and previous addresses.
The American Civil Liberties Union had opposed the proposal, arguing the questions would create “an environment ripe for profiling and discrimination.”
“National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveler and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement to the AP. “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”
In the past, this enhanced screening information, including email, phone numbers and social media had only been required for applicants who had been identified for extra scrutiny — primarily people who had traveled to areas with a high degree of terrorist activity. Roughly 65,000 applicants per-year had fallen into that category, according to the AP.
New questions on the visa application forms list social media platforms and require applicants to provide any account names they may have had on them for a five-year period. The forms also request phone numbers and email addresses applicants have used over the past five years, along with their international travel and deportation status and whether any family members have been involved in terrorist activities.
These new obstacles to immigration come at a time when competition for highly-skilled talent is at an all-time high. And according to data from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, the US is no longer the top-ranked destination for highly skilled workers or entrepreneurs.
Increasingly, immigrants are turning to countries like Canada, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand as destinations to settle and start businesses or find work, OECD data suggests.
It’s a (not unexpected) turn of events that could have significant consequences for the country as tensions with China continue to rise.
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WHAT???! NO!!!
The USA do not want people of color in their country & they will use any excuse to keep us out.
Me: *sobbing* they wait to now???? Where TF was this before???
Kiss duh ****…who want to run go de States can gih duh wuh duh want..if they ask for a kidney to get the visa they’re ppl who would gih dem too
Keep ur Visa.
This is a tactic by Donald Trump to see what persons are saying against him and he is using the American institutions for his own personal benefit to protect his own narcissistic view.His days are numbered and there will be a judgment on him and it is Election Day 2020.
You know that they already have all this information on every one they just putting it in writing for us to see
Canada is better
The way they’re behaving you’d swear USA was heaven.i can’t understand why black ppl from the carribean are trying to get into a country where they could be shot to death by racist police with no justice
Ha ha,well ah tell ya!!
Let them keep the dam Visa I was in the USA shopping this morning on Amazon so don’t need to go that place. Too many other places in the world that are more welcoming with more to offer.
The most I would do is fly over it on route to Canada.
Dam clowns yes and I hope the embassy workers who reading the comments today read mine too!
I noticed this when I had to apply for an ESTA recently
I think that only citizens of countries that have reciprocal visa arrangements with us should be allowed to enter Barbados without a visa
Awesome ! Now people like Ric and Harry Turnover who bad talk Donald Trump and the USA wouldn’t be allowed in . Are you hearing me Donald ?
Keisha Dyall Kellyann Brathwaite
smh
Some a wunna here getting on like America is the only country in the world…. Smh
“National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveler and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement to the AP. “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”” Lol…you got to love this one!! I’m laughing so hard at this one I’m literally rolling on the floor!! Can they come up with processes to protect US citizens from white terrorists?!?! Just recently, roughly about 14 people were shot and killed and a few others injured!! Wish it would clean its own house before fingering other people!!
St.lucia home sweet home.
Hopefully with this, it doesn’t become the norm in other countries. I think that is a real possibility.
Man wdr
What next
Also remember that there are countries in the Caribbean where you have to pass through the US en route to, so it’s not a straight forward dismissal of this.
My visa expired in 1999 I did not go to back one I have better things to do with my $300.
This is not a Trump issue. Watch the Netflix movie called “ Snowden” and recognize where the genesis of all this is. The fact of the matter is that Social Media has many benefits but each time you use it, how you use it and when can be monitored and used against you.
Caribbean people – Don’t go to the US unless it is life and death situation.
This gone too far
“The United States now wants to know the social-media user names of people applying for visas, part of stepped up screening of foreign visitors and immigrants”. There is no need for us to be upset about what is being asked, who’s to say it is what is written. They just put it anither place where we can see it but it was already there, it’s just that is wasn’t spelt out. Remember that nothing on Facebook is private. That privacy status we often go to has never been what it said. I realised that when a friend that knows the computer backwards let me in on some scary 《$#£€》 info. So don’t be fooled they already know about us because we volunteered that info to sign up for an account with the different social media platforms. It’s just playing another “Trump card “. Stay home and enjoy the country you live in or go to a neighbouring island. Eyes of the world are everywhere. Remember Google earth?
People should look into other places to shop and send their kids to school but many have loved ones in America. This is ridiculous America has been war for over 225 years killing people and explioting weaker countries natural resources but they act like they’re the good guys.
A
So what the United Sates is saying is that foreign visitors and immigrants from its designated Visa Waiver programme countries are unlikely to commit acts of terrorism in the United States. But it would not surprise me if the USA starts discriminating against certain classes of people from these same Visa Waiver counties, like they did to many of us just after 9/11 by appending an SSS security classification to us. I am glad that after scores of visits to the USA,as part of my job, that I do not have to set foot in the United States again.
So that if am not a trump lover can’t get in the US
I see absolutely nothing with it, terrorism is real, open borders are real, quite recently we as a country seem to have jumped on the open borders bandwagon and to me, no notice has been taken to what it is doing to major countries around the world. It has caused an increase in terrorism and the resurgence of diseases that were once thought to be eradicated and these diseases are back in very strong strains, it is a cause for serious and I have absolutely no problem with any country listing their requirements for anyone who seeks to enter their domain, if you have a problem with their rules and regulations just don’t go. I don’t see this as a race issue, I am tired of all of the race baiting being propagated by some as soon as an issue comes to the fore. We here in this country need to seriously consider managing our borders and take a serious look at all of this so-called free movement from what I have seen happening in Europe especially if we do not take stock we will be in for some problems down the road.
That’s fine. I have better things to do with my USD160.00, than apply for a U.S. visa, like buying groceries.
On another note why all of the alarm and blame on the current USA President? If some of you would follow what is going on now in the USA in terms of the abuse of privacy by the intelligence agencies you would certainly see who has been abusing, Doxing and spying on citizens and it certainly has nothing to do with the current administration. The post of Mr Donawa can give some insight into this matter as well.
American should have visas to come here the same way.
The US constitution is built on the right to free speech as several test cases have proven.
So tell me if I am in the USA and am free to speak how come if I am a west Indian I am entitled to the Same right to free speech?
All that jumping on the support the USA band wagon stop and give that a thought.
Secondly have you noticed how countries that do not have the police state approach have few if any problems with crime and terrorism? I read an article recently that featured where in Europe they were now trying to find uses for empty jails as crime was so low. In the USA where everything is policed to the teeth they have the highest jail population.
You don’t think it’s time someone stops and says ” fellows this approach ain t working “
Dirty Harry Turnover lookout. If you visit the United States you can’t claim to be a lawyer anymore. They will now know you are just a old time male hooker from Bush Hill.
Oh what that have to do with getting a visa smh
JC you going now upset Harry on the Sabbath! Lol
Who got cocoa cocoa in sun always looking fuh rain..seh muh trini friend..
My lord soon come for his world , The bible tell us all about what going on a long time ago and what happen today .All who have ears let them hears
everyday more stupidness like whats wrong
John, where in Europe? you can’t be serious about empty jails then you may be right because in Sweden the illegal immigrants have literally taken over and have the police cowering in fear they can’t even go to certain districts any more research it, so you could be right some of the jails could, in fact, be empty, the thing is the wanton rape of women is on the increase and very little is being done about it, another major problem caused by open borders to all. The two major countries now in Europe that have taken a stance on this madness are Hungary and Poland, do some research John and see why it is imperative to check who should be allowed into your countries, I have absolutely no problem with properly supervised migration.
Donild Trimp.
They mean you.
Barbados could do the same , for security reasons , but do we have in Barbados the digital infrastructure …….. or we still have shuffling bits of paper from here to there…….
We can learn a lot from the developed world,.
Citizens of some countries, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html generally do not require a visa to enter the U.S. for a period of 90 days or less. Some of these countries including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom have had major terrorist incidents in the 21st century in which multiple innocent people have died. My guess is that this will increase the work load for consular officials,and eventually increase the cost of applying for a U.S. visa, while doing little to protect Americans at home or abroad. But if it pleases the political class currently in office…
Imagine that…
Immigration officer: so let’s discuss the post you shared on your page about our president being a bag of Cheetos, shall we?
Lol. Is the USA heaven? Cost of living is getting out of hand. When I see USA citizen’s in Oistins on friday nights , most asking why we want to come there. I am not paying a cent for a USA visa. Give them free. I can use my visa seeking money to pay a bill or buy groceries. We need to boycott them.
Sherlock let Watson look these articles up for you.
Go to independent.co.uk and you will see in The Netherlands where in 2013 19 prisons closed as they did not have enough prisoners to fill them. 5 more were then closed in 2017 as crime continued its downward trend started in 2004.
Now when you finish reading that go to The World Economic Forum of 02/18 and read the article by Rob Smith. It states by 2018 the excess of unused jails is so high that The Netherlands are now giving developers permission to turn them into private dwelling.
Now when you done there go to Rates of Incarceration by country. When you get there you will see that the USA, Russia and China make up the bulk of the prison population worldwide. The three heaviest policed states with the most restricted rules on entry and yet the jails full. So what does that tell you Sherlock?
Don’t ever assume the people you meet on the blog aren’t well read and versed as it can prove embarrassing in the end.
Thus ends today’s lesson.
I always knew this would happen…to me it’s the sneaky reason for social media…to keep social tabs on the unsuspecting masses.
Michelle griffith i agree with you
Giselle Cumming
Let me tell you they already have access…..don’t let them fool you….. wtite certain words on your social media accounts and see if you won’t be monitored a little more
You may also want to research the Norwegian revised prison system sub heading ” where prisons are treated as humans.” Norway has changed their entire outlook on prisons too and it has resulted there in a fall in crime with many prisoners In the prison actually working daily jobs in the said prison system.
Meant where prisoners are treated as humans. Can’t seem on a phone to scroll back once written here.
Theresa
Talia Blair
Well on FB you are supposed to use your own name
Must be heavenly cuz millions & millions want into the USA…Giddy UP…
With in the next 25 years no black ppl would be able to go to the USA, and the blacks living there will all be hunted down and kill, the white man came and stole the land from the INDIANS and BLACKS that were living there in the USA, and from then till now they are still trying to find way to keep them under the thumb, may GOD help AMERICA, it will crumble under its own weight,
Russian President Vladimir Putin strikes Africa again!
Africa will never be independent, Africans believe in Europeans, Americans and Chinese more than themselves. They do not trust each other, African engineers / technocrats do not have the platform to practice what they have studied. They hire Chinese people to build roads for themselves. A white man will commit a crime in Africa but no action will be taken because the African authorities consider us whites as half gods, which is far from the truth. A black man can be kidnapped in Europe, harassed and even killed, but no African authority can even challenge him. Africans present themselves as weak, hopeless people, especially when dealing with Europeans and Americans. They are their own enemies. They hate each other, allowing their colonial masters to continue to explore their resources. As far as I know, Africa is the chosen continent, chosen by God, it is a blessed continent and it is time for Africans to realize that they are in a place where Americans, Europeans and Chinese people are jealous and would like to be. Do not compare the African weather with any other weather … African soil can feed all Europe, America and Asia, but their problem is one, “THEIR LEADERS”. As far as I’m concerned, their best president has always been Gaddafi.
what bout melanie? she dont like he either
if you applying for a visa take down nicknames and clean up your facebook page. The US officers will still search your account. They dont want people from the carribbean or other black nations in the US. People getting to Canada quicker than the US. They let in the people from norway, and other white nations. They even now hunting down people in the US that are illegal.
Canada is more wellcoming. I live in the US, and I would know. If you have a nice house and a car to get you to work, just ask a friend to bring some items for you, or slip over to Canada. Canada have the same things as the US, but its the present government right now that making it hard for people to come here. They even want to stop family migration. They only want the whites to get to the US easy. I know people want to experience a different culture, but hopefully the government change. I heard even barack used to get lots of people deported back the Caribbean and other nations, but barack is a smart guy,he dont take everything on tv like donald. I went in the embassy one time I was over there, some of the officers treat some visa applicants like pure dirt on the street. Yes they can read my comments, I dont care about them, they hate black people.
John everything you posted here I am aware of my contention, however, lies in unchecked migration, I am not a globalist and I will bear no malice towards any country that has its immigration laws in check I think it is the wise thing for them to do as I said before the evidence is there, the countries that do have and can afford relaxed prisons systems and programs to assist the prison population I say kudos to them, the USA just introduced a first step program for the prison population that has been so far relatively successful. On the other hand, I do not believe in open borders which give rise to illegal immigration or free movement which can allow for people to sometimes slip through the cracks. Quite recently in Texas an illegal immigrant from Texas was arrested and charged for the murder of twelve elderly women this is an interesting story that should be an eye-opener for many, you should check it out.
Forgot to indicate that the illegal immigrant in Texas was a Kenyan health care worker I think that is one of the places with a no visa requirement to come to our country in future, if I am wrong then I stand corrected.
Nanci yes I agree with you on Canada being more welcoming. I have family there and from the time you hit immigration the folks there are more laid back. I just feel when you reach a certain age and stage in life th don’t want the BS on entering some places.
I for one will go and spend my money where i am made to feel welcome. Plus we along with Canada, have all of Europe to visit and experience places there with more than 1000 years of history to share with us.
@HELEN JUANITA LYNCH
“Donild Trimp.
They mean you”.
Helen, it seems as if you are always dreaming about me.
Hmmmmmnnnn!!!
yeah…..america dont want black ppl to come there……..sheesh……
@SHERLOCK: Hmmmm…I don’t know about your argument at all, well put but I think you’re over-reaching to make your point. Ok you do believe in open borders but at what point do you stop when it comes to securing the border?
When you enter the U.S. the sign says “Border Control”
When you enter Canada the sign says “Welcome to Canada/Bienvenue au Canada”
Ric, I do not believe in open borders at all read what I said carefully. I believe in a checked and properly regulated immigration.
In Canada you are a visitor in the USA you are an alien.
Every country in the world is entitle to secure they country and borders, no matter what…..
Our black people keeps on about racism, there is nothing black people can do, racism is in the genes of the white folk…. It comes alive in them on seeing a black person…
**************************************
@ Odumoke Chukwu , hail, hail, You who ever you are is living in la, la, land,……….
Africa is the blessed continent chosen by God…
Where was God and Jesus during the centuries of slavery,, Every 5 seconds a child dies from disease and starvation, this is a very trouble continent, which was ravaged by the white man ,, and as Bishop Desmond Tutu said, the white man went to Africa ,said to the black man lets pray, when they open they eyes ,the white had all the ,gold , the best land and diamonds and in return , the white man, give the black man the bible….Amen
This is how it is , since then and now today…..
Infer SHERLOCK, it was a mistake. I meant to write “don’t”.