Trump Visa Policy Making Travel to US Harder
Travel to the Unites States just got harder after the Trump administration approved harsher visa requirements including being required to give social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers from the past five years, addresses, employment and travel history going back 15 years, and all previous passport numbers.
The requirements are part of a questionnaire that will be administered when consular officials determine “that such information is required to confirm identity or conduct more rigorous national security vetting”, according to the State Department.
The questions are voluntary but failure to provide the information may lead to a delay or stop the processing of a visa application.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly attempted to implement questionable travel bans including a January 27 decision to ban nationals from seven Muslim countries, which however was never approved.
In further efforts to boost national security, the US, together with the UK, also prohibited in March the use of electronic devices larger than a smartphone on a number of flights from the Middle East and North Africa.