This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh is an active member.
On September 18, 2026, the Department of State (DOS) announced that effective October 1, 2026, the agency will "broaden its online presence review" to cover applicants in additional nonimmigrant visa classifications: I (foreign media representatives), TN (U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement [USMCA] professionals) and TD (USMCA dependents).
To support this "vetting" process, DOS will instruct all applicants for I, TD and TN nonimmigrant visas "to set the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to 'public' or 'open.' "
DOS said that the latest announcement expands, to the applicants above, the vetting that currently applies to the following visa categories:
- Diplomatic and official visas: A-3, C-3 (if a domestic worker), G-5
- Students: F-1, M-1, F-2, M-2
- Temporary workers and trainees: H-1B, H-3, H-4 dependents of H1-B and H-3
- Exchange visitors: J-1, J-2
- Fiancé(e)s and dependents: K-1, K-2, K-3
- International cultural exchange participants: Q
- Religious occupations: R-1, R-2
- Witnesses, informants and victims: S, T, U
