A new complication for Nigerian visa applications to the United States. In early July, the U.S. State Department announced that it would require foreign students to provide a five-year social media history as part of their visa application. This measure now applies to Nigeria. In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria formalized this new requirement for applicants.

Visa applicants are required to provide all usernames or social media handles for each platform they have used in the past five years on the DS-160 visa application form, the U.S. Embassy in Kenya announced. Getty Images - Matt Cardy

The announcement came in the form of a tweet: visa applicants are now required to provide all usernames or social media handles for each platform they have used in the past five years on the DS-160 visa application form, the embassy announced.

On the form, candidates are therefore asked to provide their Facebook, Twitter (now X), Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok and other identifiers.

If their accounts are "private," they are expected to make them public for inspection purposes. And those who fail to do so should beware: the embassy warns that they risk having their visa refused for this reason, or even "ineligibility for future visas."

This requirement applies not only to Nigeria; it is part of the enhanced vetting procedures introduced under President Donald Trump's administration. When reviewing visas, U.S. officials will have to identify applicants who have a "hostile attitude" toward the government or U.S. "founding principles." Among the targets: students with "a history of political activism" who might continue to do so once in the United States.