Want to Visit USA? First, You'll Need to Tell Them Your Social Media Accounts

Travelling to the USA could mean handing over your Instagram handle.

Listing all your social media accounts for the US Government will be the new norm if you plan to visit the country any time soon.

That's because the US Government's State Department has announced that social media accounts will now be checked as part of the visa application process.

It will be a mandatory requirement for anyone who isn't a diplomat or on an official visa (foreign government officials).

To be granted with a visa, you'll first need to list all your social media accounts as well as any email addresses, phone numbers and international travel logs from the previous five years.

Initially, this proposal extended only to applicants who had travelled to, or were from, regions of the world controlled by terrorist groups.

It will now affect more than 10 million visitors to the US every year.

It's still unclear what happens if everyone just puts their profiles on private or if they'll need to specifically grant access for government officials.

Thankfully, it seems this requirement is limited to applying for study and work visas and not the tourist visa waiver, Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), relevant to most Australians for use on short trips.

ESTA applications had already introduced an optional request to include their social media accounts back in 2017.

Image above: Screenshot of ESTA application.

So, if you're planning to visit the Big Apple or Hollywood any time soon, now is a good time to delete all those Trump-related memes and dumb party pictures you're tagged in.