The Trump administration proposes a new questionnaire format for visa applicants worldwide that would require social media handles dating back to five years and biographical information going back 15 years.

Approved May 23 by the Office of Management and Budget, the questionnaire is part of the administration’s effort to tighten the screening of visitors to the United States. The tight vetting is said by the State department applies to visa applicants  “determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibility.”

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The questionnaire when approved  would apply to “immigrant and non-  immigrant visa applicants, some of the new questions would be requesting social media profiles from the last five years (a first) , email addresses, phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history, Reuters reports.

The US State department estimates  that this would affect 65,000 applicants a year, or 0.5 percent of all applicants, and would require 65,000 more hours of work per year. Requesting for this additional information is left to the discretion of the consular officer to determine if it is necessary or not.

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According to ABCnews, a state department official said the top priority at the department is national security and they were working tirelessly to  improve the screening processes”. In its statement Wednesday, the department also said that failure to provide the new information will not necessarily result in visa denial, and that the social media accounts “will not be used to deny visas based on religion, race, national origin, ethnicity, political views, gender, or sexual orientation”.

The proposal is open to public comment till May 18, and if approved by Office of Management and Budget, it will apply for  just 6 months instead of the usual three years.

Itunuoluwa