Originally Posted: 5/29/2025 | Last Updated: 6/19/2025 

The Trump Administration had previously ordered U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide to temporarily pause the scheduling of new appointments for F, M, and J visa applicants, effective May 27, 2025, while it prepared new vetting procedures for such applicants. That process is now complete, and appointment scheduling in these categories has resumed as of June 18, 2025, along with new screening requirements for student and exchange visitor visas. 

The Department of State (“DOS”) cable issued to diplomatic posts on June 18th outlines new vetting procedures to be applied to both new and returning F, M, and J visa applicants, including enhanced screening of online activity, to identify applicants who may be hostile towards the United States. We highlight excerpts from the cable instructing consular officers what to look for as part of the new vetting requirements, as reported by CNN, Reuters: 

• Consulates must conduct “comprehensive and thorough vetting” of all F, M, and J applicants “to identify applicants who bear hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles; who advocate for, aid, or support designated terrorists and other threats to U.S. national security; or who perpetrate unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence.” 
• Officers are instructed to look for “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above” and “consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.”  
• Vetting procedures must include a review of the applicant’s “entire online presence – not just social media activity – using any appropriate search engines or other online resources,” including “a check of any databases to which the consular section has access.” 
• Officers are also instructed to ask the applicants to make all of their social media accounts public and “remind the applicant that limited access to . . . online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity,”
• Consular officers are to look for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant and use discretion to determine whether an applicant’s activism or other activity amounts to an actual threat.  

Enhanced vetting procedures for student and exchange visitor visas are to be implemented at U.S. consulates and embassies worldwide by June 25, 2025. Applicants should expect longer processing times for F, M, and J visas, and potentially limited appointment availability in these categories, as a result. 

When expediting visa applications, the cable instructs posts to give preference to physicians participating in a medical program through an exchange visa and student applicants intending to study at university where international students constitute less than 15% of the total student body. 

We are monitoring the situation closely and will update this page with any new information as we learn more. Also, keep an eye on our Trending Topics page for updates on other issues impacting travel, noting other potential risks and considerations depending on nationality, including the current travel ban impacting nationals of certain countries and heightened scrutiny of visa applicants from China.