U.S. Visa Applicants Must Now Disclose Five-Year Social Media History

The United States government has announced that all visa applicants, including Nigerians, are now required to provide details of their social media activity from the past five years.

In a notice shared by the U.S. Mission in Nigeria via its official X (formerly Twitter) account, the embassy stressed that applicants completing the DS-160 form for non-immigrant visas must list every social media username or handle they have used during that period.

“Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used from the last 5 years on the DS-160 visa application form,” the Mission stated. “Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit. Omitting social media information could lead to visa denial and ineligibility for future visas.”

The embassy warned that failure to disclose this information truthfully could result in visa denial and impact eligibility for future applications.

This new requirement reflects a growing global trend where governments increasingly examine digital footprints as part of immigration and security screening processes.