On May 27, 2025 media outlets reported that the Department of State (DOS) ordered U.S. embassies and consulates to temporarily halt adding additional F, M, and J "visa appointment capacity" until it issues further guidance, expected "in the coming days," on an expansion of social media screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor applicants. See Trump team pauses new student visa interviews as it weighs expanding social media vetting, Nahal Toosi, Politico, May 27, 2025. Politico cited a DOS cable that reportedly states:
"Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued septel, which we anticipate in the coming days."
"SEPTEL" is DOS shorthand for "separate telegram," which means that DOS will send the actual guidance on expansion of social media vetting to consulates and embassies via a separate cable "in the coming days."
Advocacy and engagement on the issue
Advocacy.
- On June 11, 2025, in collaboration with the U.S. for Success Coalition, NAFSA launched an advocacy campaign urging Congress to press the State Department to resume visa appointments immediately. See NAFSA's Visa Interview Suspension Advocacy page for links to:
- Convey to Congress that this suspension jeopardizes the contributions international students and scholars make to every corner of the United States and that visa appointments should resume immediately. Please take the additional step of customizing this message with specific examples of how this funding suspension is having a direct impact on your communities.
- Use the NAFSA Social Media Toolkit to amplify our advocacy message far and wide across your networks.
- On May 30, 2025 NAFSA joined a letter led by the American Council on Education to the Department of State Secretary Marco Rubio expressing deep concern about the pause in student visa interviews and plans to revoke the visas for some Chinese students.
Engagement.
- Get the latest updates on this issue from NAFSA leaders as well as some strategies and resources for how international educators can make the case with campus and congressional leaders that international students and scholars are essential to the U.S. economy, workforce development, and national security. Register for NAFSA's International Education Town Hall: Visa Interview Suspension Advocacy webinar set for Thursday, June 13, 2025, from 2:00 to 2:30 pm EDT.
Scope of the halt
It is unclear what the DOS cable's instruction to not "add any additional visa appointment capacity" means, but versions of the cable that have circulated online indicate that the temporary appointment scheduling halt will not affect appointments that are already scheduled, but will affect unused appointment slots and slots that are normally added on a periodic basis. AILA posted the content of what purports to be the cable text at AILA Doc. No. 25052901, and the paragraph containing the text reported by Politico goes on to say:
"Appointments already scheduled can proceed under current guidelines. However, appointments that are available, but not taken as of the release of this cable, should be immediately removed from availability."
Nature of the expansion of social media vetting
The cable contains no further details on the nature of the "expansion of required social media screening and vetting" policy being planned. However, two other cables that have been reported may contain clues about elements of the forthcoming expanded scrutiny.
DOS cable 25 STATE 26168. A copy of a reported May 30, 2025 DOS cable that has been circulated by media and other groups instructs might be DOS cable 25 STATE 26168, referred to as ref B in the May 27, 2025 visa appointment halt cable. The visa appointment cable states that "In Ref B, consular officers were instructed to refer certain student and exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa applicants to the Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) for a mandatory social media check, pursuant to the implementation of Executive Order (E.O.) 14161 and E.O. 14188, known respectively as Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats and Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism."
DOS Cable Calls for "Enhanced Vetting" of Harvard-Bound Travelers. A copy of a reported May 30, 2025 DOS cable that has been circulated by media and other groups instructs consular officers to "[C]onduct a complete screening of the on line presence of any nonimmigrant visa applicant seeking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose. Such applicants include, but are not limited to prospective students, students, faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers, and other visitors." The cable tells consulates to use administrative processing (which involves an initial refusal of the visa application under INA 221(g)) to conduct the enhanced social media vetting. The cable also tells consulates to consider "whether the lack of any online presence, or having social media accounts restricted to "private" or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant's credibility." The cable then indicates that the heightened scrutiny reportedly applied to applicants traveling to Harvard "will also serve as a pilot for expanded screening and vetting of visa applicants, and as the Department continues to develop and expand any enhanced vetting requirements for student visas generally, it may announce similar measures for other groups of visa applicants as appropriate, and in accordance with U.S. law." Note that implementation of this reported cable has not been blocked by any of the court actions in the President and Fellows of Harvard College v. DHS et al. (see NAFSA's page Harvard Suit Challenges Revocation of SEVP Certification), but by the same token the existence or implementation of the cable have not been verified by DOS. On June 9, 2025, CNN reported that the State Department ordered consulates to return to normal processing of visa applications of individuals destined to Harvard. See US State Department orders embassies to resume processing Harvard student visas, Kylie Atwood, CNN, June 9, 2025.
Timeline
Regarding the timeline for issuing the cable with its enhanced social media vetting guidance to consular posts, the May 27, 2025 cable said only that it is expected "in the coming days." Regarding the restart of new visa appointment availability, Department of State press briefings have provided only very general information.
In a May 29, 2025 Department of State press briefing DOS spokesperson Tammy Bruce responded to a question on whether we can "expect the appointments to open back up immediately after that guidance goes out to posts" by saying:
"Well, one thing I can tell you - a few things I can say is people can still make their application, do their regular steps, but it’s a two-step process, right. You apply and then you have to get an appointment to meet with people to talk with them. Unlike - I don’t know - unlike - often with the passports - I mean, there’s a very specific process. 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. So as opposed to - let me just say, I would not be recommending that if this was going to be weeks or months. So if you’re - 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. I can’t tell you immediately after some indetermined moment of an action, but I can tell you that it’s something that would happen perhaps sooner than later."
In a June 3, 2025 Department of State Press Briefing, Ms. Bruce responded to this question: "are the student and exchange visas still on hold, and do you have an estimate of how much of a backlog this has now caused?"
"There is going to be – I can tell you there'll be more on this in – before the end of the week. The original cable indicated it was going to be a matter of days, and I think that this is a sense of making sure that embassies and consulates are prepared to make sure that all the steps that are needed are able to be taken, and just making sure that things were in order, that this is not a never-ending dynamic. And we are looking at, again, an update in a matter of days in that regard as well....
... no appointments were canceled. There were - people have been encouraged and continue to be encouraged to - there’s two steps, right? You apply, but then you have to have an interview. So inevitably there – no appointments were canceled or eliminated from availability. I think that when this returns, we're going to see that appointments are going to be able to be made. It's not like it's a time block that can't be returned, that days can't be returned. And I think that once this is done and it's back online, it'll go pretty quickly."
In a June 10, 2025 Department of State Press Briefing, Ms. Bruce responded to this question from the press: "any updates on the temporary pause on scheduling new interviews for student visa applications? Is that still in effect?"
"I can tell you, of course - and that’s a good question, because there’s so many other conversations about visa restrictions - I do believe that we are in the process - and I don’t know if, Tommy, if we’ve got - we might have to take this back - that we - I know last week that we were in the process of indicating that it would be very soon, and that people should start looking for those spaces to open up regarding appointments. Nothing has changed and are encouraging still people to apply for those student visas. This was a matter of making sure that the process that we were expecting of consulates and embassies was proper when it came to what we expected them to be able to vet for. And that process, we were told, would be rapid, and I think at this point what I can reassert here is that people should watch for those spaces to be open, should continue to apply. This is not going to be a lengthy or an ongoing dynamic. It was meant for a specific, almost an administrative adjustment. And I would hope - perhaps we could go back and get more on this, but I think that that’s where it stands, and perhaps on Thursday I can get even something more specific for you on the record.... And another reminder to the people watching at home: When I say we’re going to take something back, it means that we’re going to get an answer to that question for the reporter and get it right back to them as well. And so that’ll also help us for the next briefing also."
Other relevant excerpts from a May 27, 2025 DOS press briefing
Here are some other relevant excerpts from a May 27, 2025 State Department press briefing transcript with responses by DOS spokesperson Tammy Bruce.
"QUESTION: — there is reporting that the administration may require all foreign students to undergo social media vetting, and that embassies and consulates are pausing interviews for new student visas, according to a cable from Secretary Rubio. Is that accurate, and do you have any other information?
MS BRUCE: Well, if you’re discussing that, that’s something that has not been discussed publicly. It would have to be leaked material if it exists. What I can remind everyone of, which we’ve discussed for months here, is that we use every tool in our tool chest to vet anyone coming in who wants to come into this country, and in order to do so has to apply for a visa to gain access to our nation. So we – every sovereign country has a right to know who is trying to come in, why they want to come in, who they are, what they’ve been doing, and at least hopefully within that framework determine what they will be doing while they’re here. So we – that’s nothing new, and we will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that’s coming here, whether they are students or otherwise. ...
QUESTION: If you don’t mind, let me go back to the student visa issue, leaving a lot – aside the issue of the cable. The Secretary himself has said that the vast majority of students in the country – foreign students have done nothing wrong; they shouldn’t be worried about their visas; they’re welcome to study at American universities. People going to universities this fall, foreign students – should they be concerned that their visas won’t be processed in time? Do you think that there’s – is the State Department confident that people can still go, can still attend autumn semesters?
MS BRUCE: Well, you know this is – every dynamic – and again, we don’t speak about individual visa cases. We don’t speak about the nature of the choices made about individuals. We do know, though, that we take very seriously the process of vetting who it is that comes into the country, and we’re going to continue to do that. We’re going to continue to vet, and we continue to have an interest. And again, whether they be student or if you’re a tourist who needs a visa, or whoever you are, we’re going to be looking at you. I think why that would – it seems to be such a controversial thing that’s going on, but it shouldn’t be. And every nation should take seriously – and does – who’s coming in. So if you’re going to be applying for a visa, follow the normal process, the normal steps. Expect to be looked at, and we go on from there.
QUESTION: And processing delays – do you expect students applying now to get in without problems?
MS BRUCE: Again, I can’t speak to their individual experiences. But of course, it seems like the nature of the reaction to this is that – but I can’t – we’ve always vetted people trying to come in. We’ve always looked at visas seriously. It’s why we have a visa, so that you can stop and look at someone. So I can’t speak about what the individual experience will be, but the fact is that everyone knows that we’re – it’s a reminder, certainly, that we’re taking it seriously.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up on that?
MS BRUCE: Yes, go ahead, certainly.
QUESTION: And you just said it – there is a vetting process for anybody who’s coming in the country. But what is different now? Is there a new criteria, a new mechanism? What’s different?
MS BRUCE: Well, yes. We – in addition to not discussing, for privacy reasons and a whole host of other reasons, discussing individual visa processes with an individual, but we also don’t talk about the methods. We’re not going to lay out here with the media the nature of the steps that are taken, the methods that we use. That would seem to be a little bit counterproductive, perhaps. But it is a goal, as stated by the President and Secretary Rubio, to make sure that people who are here are here and understand what the law is, that they don’t have any criminal intent, that they are going to be contributors to the experience here, whether – however short or long their stay is. And so the details of which I won’t reveal, but it’s one that will hopefully achieve our understanding of who deserves to visit this country and who does not."