Student visa freeze temporary: US govt, as it pauses global student visas to step up social media checks

The United States has paused student visa appointments globally but signalled that the suspension will be short-lived. The move comes as Washington intensifies scrutiny of applicants’ online activity and social media presence.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce on Thursday urged prospective students to continue seeking visa appointments, hinting that the disruption may not last long. “I would not be recommending that if this were going to be weeks or months,” she said at a press briefing in Washington, D.C.

Bruce advised applicants to “regularly check” for newly available slots, stating, “Right now there might be some delay… but it's something that would happen perhaps sooner than later.”

The temporary freeze follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s directive on Tuesday ordering embassies and consulates to halt new student visa appointments. The suspension will remain in effect until fresh guidelines are issued on reviewing applicants’ social media activity.

This marks another sharp turn in the Trump administration’s tightening stance on international students. Rubio has already rescinded thousands of student visas, pushed to bar foreign students from entering top universities like Harvard, and used a rarely invoked law to revoke visas of pro-Palestinian student protestors, citing foreign policy concerns.

In a cable sent to U.S. missions, Rubio said that the updated social media screening protocols will be released “in the coming days.”

Meanwhile, Bruce underscored Washington’s concerns over China. “The U.S. will not tolerate the exploitation of our universities by the Chinese Communist Party or the theft of American research and intellectual property,” she said, while declining to specify how many Chinese students may face visa revocations under this approach.

She confirmed that any individual “deemed to be a threat to the country or a problem” would face heightened scrutiny, although she stopped short of detailing how threats would be determined.

(With agency inputs)