Trump Administration Pauses F/M/J Visa Interviews at all U.S. Embassies & Consulates

The Trump Administration is further escalating its war on U.S. universities and international students, this time by pausing all F/M/J visa appointments. This latest move came without warning and student visa interviews will not resume until the Trump administration establishes a process for vetting student applicants’ social media profiles.

The State Department has not specified what future social media vetting would screen for, but it alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism.

The pause is temporary and only applies to new visa interviews. It is believed that already scheduled visa interviews will go ahead. Although this move by the administration does not impact existing F/M/J status holders currently in the U.S., those who need to renew their F/M/J visas for international travel will not be able to do so until U.S. Embassies and Consulates resume scheduling F/M/J visa interviews.

The pause and additional vetting of social media profiles will likely severely slow down student visa processing. The delay comes at a particularly inconvenient time for student visa applicants as many have recently received admission decisions and starting the visa application process. The pause will also impact U.S. universities, many of which rely on foreign student tuition payments to balance their budgets.

Currently, there have been no legal challenges to the student visa interview pause. However, previous student visa-related policies have faced legal scrutiny. Notably, the Trump Administration abruptly revoked Harvard university’s authorization to enroll foreign students only to have the revocation blocked by a federal judge. The Administration also cancelled the visas of thousands of international students across the country before reversing the move.

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