Thomas Reese Jesuit Fr. Thomas Reese's column for Religion News Service, "Signs of the Times," appears regularly at National Catholic Reporter. Reese entered the Jesuits in 1962 and was ordained ...

However, a major policy change now mandates that all student and exchange visa applicants set their social media accounts to ‘public’ as part of a more rigorous vetting process.

The US State Department told embassies and consulates they must vet student visa applicants for “hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles ...

The US State Department says it will resume scheduling appointments for international student visas, but will ask all applicants to make their social media accounts public for enhanced screening.