During Thursday's State Department press briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce answered questions about social media vetting in student visa applications.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Again, on visas. Hold on, please.
00:02Still on visas.
00:03Still on visas. One moment. I'll be back with you.
00:05One, on the cable that went on on Tuesday, it said they expected this expanded social media vetting guidance for visa applicants to go out in the coming days.
00:15Are you still tracking that timeline and give us any guidance on what that is going to be like?
00:18Yes, I can't give you a specific timeline, but there will be more information.
00:23What I can say is that in general, because that was an internal communication that was leaked at the same time, we have confirmed that the details are accurate.
00:37Also, the Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through the visa process specifically.
00:49Every adjudication, as I noted to you, is a national security decision.
00:52And a visa, as a reminder, is not a privilege.
00:56It's a privilege. It's not a right. It's not a birthright.
00:59It's not something that you're owed, no matter where you come from.
01:02Every prospective traveler to the United States undergoes interagency security vetting.
01:06And this is important with these conversations, because it seems like only certain groups are facing vetting with visas.
01:13Every single person does.
01:14So I would say that, yes, you're going to get more information, and this is, as a result, not an interminable kind of end – there is an end point, and it should be rather quick, as consulates and embassies make adjustments when it comes to how they handle visas.
01:31Can we expect the appointments to open back up immediately after that guidance goes out to posts?
01:36Well, 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?
01:47You apply, and then you have to get an appointment to meet with people to talk with them.
01:52Unlike – I don't know – unlike often with the passports.
01:55I mean, there's a very specific process.
01:57So 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.
02:08So as opposed to – let me just say, I would not be recommending that if this was going to be weeks or months.
02:14So if you've applied for a visa and you want to, please do.
02:20Then there's no – if you're not getting an appointment, just – there's an online system.
02:27You continually recheck to see when those spots might open.
02:30I can't tell you immediately after some, you know, indetermined moment of an action,
02:37but I can tell you that it's something that would happen perhaps sooner than later.