On June 18, the US State Department's telegram said that the Trump administration has resumed student visa issuance but will significantly tighten the process of checking social networks to determine which candidates may be hostile to Washington.
The telegram stated that US consular officials are required to conduct "comprehensive and thorough checks" of all student and exchange visa candidates to identify those who "have hostility towards citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles".
According to the content of the telegram, candidates' limited access to online presence in the US can be considered a sign of avoiding or concealing certain activities.
Secretary Marco Rubio sent a telegram to all US diplomatic missions, instructing staff to pay special attention to candidates with a history of political activities.
The move comes after authorities conducted enhanced testing last month for visa fillers who want to go to Harvard University for any purpose. A separate telegram from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this will be a pilot program for a more expanded screening process in the future.
On May 27, the Trump administration directed overseas delegations to temporarily suspend the deadline for candidates applying for study visas and academic exchanges, and announced that the State Department would expand the scope of social media testing for international students.
