TN Status & Social Media Reviews…
Headlines about the State Department scanning visa applicants' social media have probably crossed your feed this week. This specific announcement is about TN and TD visas, but the same kind of scrutiny has already applied to other statuses since December 2025.
What Actually Changed
On September 18, the State Department announced it's expanding its social media vetting program to three more visa categories, effective October 1: TN visas (NAFTA (or USMCA) professionals, which are exclusively Canadian and Mexican nationals), TD visas (their dependents), and I visas (foreign media representatives). Applicants in these categories now have to set the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to "public" or "open" so consular officers can review them. One thing to note here is that Canadian citizens do not typically require visas in their passports, therefore, because this is a consular requirement, it does not change CBP port-of-entry procedures. However, U.S. border agents still retain the authority to search electronic devices (such as phones or laptops) physically present at the port of entry under existing CBP guidelines.
Who Is and Isn't Affected
The September 18th announcement is not introducing a new requirement, it's an expansion of an existing program to new categories. If you're on H-1B, H-4, F-1, F-2, M-1, or J-1, you were already required to make your social media public. That requirement took effect back on December 15, 2025, as part of a separate, earlier rollout. TN, TD, and I are the categories being added now.
TLDR
This is an expansion, not a new requirement: TN, TD, and I visas are newly added to social media vetting effective October 1, 2026.
If you're on H-1B, H-4, F-1, F-2, M-1, or J-1, you've already been subject to this requirement since December 15, 2025.
Use this as a prompt to check your own social media privacy settings are public before your next interview, renewal, or travel.
Expect this list of categories to keep growing over time.
If you're a TN applicant specifically, note that this review is tied to consular processing, although CBP agents still maintain the right to search electronic devices.
This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please consult a licensed immigration attorney.
