The move comes as the US prepares to implement a comprehensive social media testing policy for all visa applications.
According to The Guardian, a US State Department dispatch sent on May 27 asking consular departments to temporarily suspend any new appointments for student visas or student exchange visitors (F, M, and J) until further instructions are available in the next few days.
The directive could seriously delay visa processing and affect American universities - many of which rely heavily on international student revenue.
"The Ministry is reviewing current processes in screening and approving applications for student visas and exchange visitors" - the content of the telegram said. Officials are expected to issue guidelines on expanding social media testing to the entire group.
Previously, since March, consular officials have been required to check the social networks of students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests. The authorities at that time required a screenshot of may be negative content to be saved in the records, even if the posts had been deleted.
With the new Directive, social network checking will be expanded to all student visa applications. The review process includes checking posts, comments, and shares on platforms such as Instagram, X, and TikTok to determine content that may be considered a threat to national security.
The new policy is also associated with the Trump administration's view on combating cardism.
Last week, Marco Rubio - US Secretary of State said the US State Department has canceled visas of "possible up to thousands of people" as of now, a sharp increase compared to the figure of more than 300 recorded in March.
I dont know what the latest figure is, but there is still a lot of work to do, said Marco.
According to the NAFSA International Education Association, there are currently more than 1 million international students studying in the US, contributing about $43.8 billion to the US economy and supporting more than 378,000 jobs in the 2023-2024 period.
The freezing of study abroad visas is expected to face more challenges for American universities in the context of a declining number of international students.
