US asks students to check visa slots daily as pause set to end soon

A news report in Politico said that the Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting.

New York/Washington: In the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to halt scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants, the US has asked foreign students to frequently check to see when those spots might open, saying it’s something that would happen perhaps “sooner than later”.

The Trump administration is ordering US embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants as it is considering social media vetting of foreign individuals looking to study in America.

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“So right now, there might be some delay. And what I’m told to encourage people to do is to regularly check to see when those spaces open,” State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said at a briefing Thursday.

Bruce was responding to a question on when can the appointments be expected to open back up.

“So if you’ve applied for a visa, and you want to, please do. Then if there’s no – if you’re not getting an appointment, just – there’s an online system. You continually recheck to see when those spots might open,” she said.

“I can’t tell you immediately after some undetermined moment of an action, but I can tell you that it’s something that would happen perhaps sooner than later,” she added.

Bruce added that the Trump Administration is focused on protecting the nation and its citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through the visa process specifically.

“Every adjudication, as I noted to you, is a national security decision,” she said.

Bruce underlined that a visa is not a right but a privilege.

“It’s not a birthright. It’s not something that you’re owed, no matter where you come from. Every prospective traveller to the United States undergoes interagency security vetting.

“And this is important with these conversations because it seems like only certain groups are facing vetting with visas. Every single person does. So I would say that, yes, you’re going to get more information. And this is, as a result, not an interminable kind of end – there is an endpoint, and it should be rather quick, as consulates and embassies make adjustments when it comes to how they handle visas,” she said.

Earlier this week, Bruce had said that the US uses “every tool in our tool chest” to vet those coming into the country, including students.

A news report in Politico said that the Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting.

“In preparation for such required vetting, the administration is ordering US embassies and consular sections to pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants,” the report cited a “cable” dated May 27 signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.