USA requests social media info

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jd426

Guest
This is a very good idea.. may weed out some people and give it to those who are more deserving..

They need to do more though.. I sometimes think its a pure Lottery system, and it should not be .
A good friend we know, did not get the Visa first try .. then applied again, with nothing whatsoever having changed in his Life , and he got it the 2nd time .. He has an Aunt and other relatives in NYC.. and a good job over there .. no kids ..there is no reason to deny people like this and make them pay the fee all over again... Its a money grab , imo, from people who cant afford to waste it like that , $300 + is not cheap .
 
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Riva_31

Guest
This is a very good idea.. may weed out some people and give it to those who are more deserving..

They need to do more though.. I sometimes think its a pure Lottery system, and it should not be .
A good friend we know, did not get the Visa first try .. then applied again, with nothing whatsoever having changed in his Life , and he got it the 2nd time .. He has an Aunt and other relatives in NYC.. and a good job over there .. no kids ..there is no reason to deny people like this and make them pay the fee all over again... Its a money grab , imo, from people who cant afford to waste it like that , $300 + is not cheap .

I tryed 4 times in like 15 years, always no, during this time I have traveled 11 countries and gave up to try again, will continue traveling to another countries, no plans to waste my time and my money again. My brother went last year to apply for a visa, he is not working and got it at the first try.
 
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jd426

Guest
I tryed 4 times in like 15 years, always no, during this time I have traveled 11 countries and gave up to try again, will continue traveling to another countries, no plans to waste my time and my money again. My brother went last year to apply for a visa, he is not working and got it at the first try.

And you see, that's NOT RIGHT .. that should not be happening ..
I said to someone recently, maybe the REAL cost of the Visa is NOT the $300 whatever price, but actually like $900. ( triple , based on people denied)
they just cant TELL people that as its too outrageous ..
But if you have a Limited # of Visas, and people get denied for no real reason.. then what can you conclude ..
A Lottery system is NOT a fair system.. If the underlying Requirements are not consistent ..
 
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Expat-in-Cabarete

Guest
"The move represents a step up from a September 2017 measure in which the Homeland Security Department proposed and enacted a regulation calling for the surveillance of social media use of all immigrants, *** including naturalized citizens ***. During the Obama administration, the State Department began to ask visa applicants to voluntarily submit their social media information."

I had no clue this had passed and that they were checking my social media too.

I honestly wonder what the heck they think they're going to discover. Once this is public, people will delete their social media accounts, and/or start using fake names. Totally stupid measure.
 
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AlterEgo

Guest
"The move represents a step up from a September 2017 measure in which the Homeland Security Department proposed and enacted a regulation calling for the surveillance of social media use of all immigrants, *** including naturalized citizens ***. During the Obama administration, the State Department began to ask visa applicants to voluntarily submit their social media information."

I had no clue this had passed and that they were checking my social media too.

I honestly wonder what the heck they think they're going to discover. Once this is public, people will delete their social media accounts, and/or start using fake names. Totally stupid measure.

I was also unaware. My first thought was the sankies and sankettes. Obviously Facebook and instagram, but I wonder if it includes WhatsApp too?
 
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Uzin

Guest
You haven't heard, I mentioned it on another post, forget visa applicants, anyone entering US can be asked to unlock their phones or laptops by TSA, then they also can ask you to log on to any social media or WhatsApp , Skype etc. if they feel like it. This is not just immigrants or visitors, but US citizens too... ! Obviously they more feel like doing this with people who suspect or just get on their nerves, but a free pass to your life basically - say goodbye to any privacy entering US.

In addition, if they really don't like your face (or had a bust up with their spouse last night !) they can confiscate all the electronics for further examination for 120 days... !? Imagine you will be cut off from all your friends and family before you can replace all the equipment and go back online.

I read some Brits now buy a cheap throw away non-smart phone when travelling to US, what the world is coming to, yanks really need to get a life and not be so cared of the rest of us... ! lol
 
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Tom0910

Guest
You haven't heard, I mentioned it on another post, forget visa applicants, anyone entering US can be asked to unlock their phones or laptops by TSA, then they also can ask you to log on to any social media or WhatsApp , Skype etc. if they feel like it. This is not just immigrants or visitors, but US citizens too... !
I had this happen to me traveling from the U.S. to Canada,I had a two week old IphoneX and an Ipad and I refused to give them the passcode and they told me that if I did not open them that they would confiscate them and I would get them back in about two months. I opened them and they proceeded to spend two hours going through my Facebook etc.,they even brought in a spanish speaking officer to read all my messages from my "amigas",the spanish speaker was a female officer,she must have been sqquirming inside after reading some of my messages hahahahaha. Now I just delete my social media apps like Instagram,FB,Whatsapp and reinstall once I am across whatever border I am crossing. The reason I get the third degree during all U.S. and Canada crossings is I have the same exact name and birthdate of someone that has a warrant. I have been clocked speeding and had it turn into a felony stop because of this.
 
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jd426

Guest
My question would be though , HOW are they going to process this much information, on so many applicants ..
Will they be looking for key words , incriminating pictures .
 
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cobraboy

Guest
FayBoo, Twitter and Instagram gonna crash if Dominicans have to erase their accounts when they apply for a US visa to keep Uncle Sugar from snooping their truthiness...;)
 
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cobraboy

Guest
My question would be though , HOW are they going to process this much information, on so many applicants ..
Will they be looking for key words , incriminating pictures .
Prolly while sitting down with them at the interview at the consulate.
 
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zoomzx11

Guest
I was also unaware. My first thought was the sankies and sankettes. Obviously Facebook and instagram, but I wonder if it includes WhatsApp too?

They did not think of that or it would be on the list.
Are there people deleting their FB accounts now?
 
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zoomzx11

Guest
I was also unaware. My first thought was the sankies and sankettes. Obviously Facebook and instagram, but I wonder if it includes WhatsApp too?

They did not think of that or it would be on the list.
Are there people deleting their FB accounts now?
Will deleting toss a stone in their path?

The window visa interview is traumatizing. They are suspicious of everyone.
We were married four years and lived in the DR the entire time.
The feeling you get is that they know your are hiding something and they are determined to catch you.
We had nothing to hide but it was a miserable time facing the examiner.
They intentionally put pressure on you looking for nervousness.
When it was done the interviewer seemed disappointed in not being able to "catch us" and turn down the application.
I had to ask if we had passed the interview and he reluctantly said yes. Never told us until we asked.
My wife had been turned down for a visitor visa (no reason ever given) and the examiner had all the documents we provided in the visit application and then compared them with the new document for green card.
He was very sneaky in his questioning and I quickly realized he had both documents and was looking for discrepancies.
I had the distinct feeling the male interviewer did not like us one bit for some reason.
An awful process.
Anyone applying better be snow white and prepared for an intrusive unpleasant probing question session.
 
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Dr_Taylor

Guest
You haven't heard, I mentioned it on another post, forget visa applicants, anyone entering US can be asked to unlock their phones or laptops by TSA, then they also can ask you to log on to any social media or WhatsApp , Skype etc. if they feel like it. This is not just immigrants or visitors, but US citizens too... ! Obviously they more feel like doing this with people who suspect or just get on their nerves, but a free pass to your life basically - say goodbye to any privacy entering US.
This is very true. I do not store any information on my computer or telephone. Once, when asked to boot the computer, the immigration officer commented that I did not have anything on the desktop and no files. I responded that everything is stored on the server in case the computer is lost or stolen. Then I laughed to myself. He shot me a dirty look, typed a few comments on his computer, and told me that I could pack it and leave. Immigration has not searched me since.
 
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Dr_Taylor

Guest
I had this happen to me traveling from the U.S. to Canada,I had a two week old IphoneX and an Ipad and I refused to give them the passcode and they told me that if I did not open them that they would confiscate them and I would get them back in about two months. I opened them and they proceeded to spend two hours going through my Facebook etc.,they even brought in a spanish speaking officer to read all my messages from my "amigas",the spanish speaker was a female officer,she must have been sqquirming inside after reading some of my messages hahahahaha. Now I just delete my social media apps like Instagram,FB,Whatsapp and reinstall once I am across whatever border I am crossing. The reason I get the third degree during all U.S. and Canada crossings is I have the same exact name and birthdate of someone that has a warrant. I have been clocked speeding and had it turn into a felony stop because of this.
Additionally, you should clear the cache and cookies in all the browsers that you use. It takes a few seconds, but can save you an hour in immigration.
 
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JDJones

Guest
My question would be though , HOW are they going to process this much information, on so many applicants ..
Will they be looking for key words , incriminating pictures .


I thought the same thing. A massive amount of information to browse through. Maybe look for compromising pictures or see if they have stateside friends that seem out of place?

Really, I can look at the Facebook page of a girl or guy and sum up what type of person they are pretty quickly.
 
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Cdn_Gringo

Guest
They don't go to FB and look at individual profiles or pages. The alphabet soup agencies already have regularly updated FB, twitter and other social media site dumps in a massive data center in Utah. The background searches are all automated, using keywords, personal associations, interpretive text analysis, facial recognition of photographs and a whole host of other analytics we don't know about. If something gets flagged, it's in through the backdoor not the front door to take a human look-see. Since these sites never really delete anything, it's all there for your concerned govt to sift through at their leisure.
 
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CristoRey

Guest
Never been on social media, never had a Facebook
account. Never gonna have to deal with this type
of sh*t in my life. Why anyone would want to give
up so much of their personal information and privacy
to such a large irresponsible corporation like FB...
is beyond me.