US to Demand Five-Year Social Media History from Visa-Free Travellers

By Micheal Chukwuebuka

The United States is set to introduce sweeping changes to its Visa Waiver Program, with a proposal requiring all applicants to submit details of their social media activity from the past five years. The change, outlined in a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice, will be published shortly in the Federal Register.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that social-media disclosure, previously optional, would become mandatory under the revised Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). The agency said the update supports Executive Order 14161, issued in January 2025, which directs federal bodies to tighten vetting procedures to better detect foreign security threats. CBP maintains that compulsory reporting will strengthen identity verification, expose potential fraud and enhance national-security screening.

The proposal also introduces extensive new data-submission requirements. Applicants may be required to provide email addresses used over the past decade, phone numbers from the past five years, IP addresses, photo metadata, expanded family information and additional biometrics, including facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scans and DNA. DHS said the changes reflect updated federal data-collection standards announced in April.

Another major shift is a plan to permanently shut down the ESTA website and require all applications to be completed through a mobile app. With more than 14 million applications processed annually, officials expect the expanded requirements and new platform to increase compliance demands.

DHS will accept public feedback on the proposed changes, including the mandatory social-media rule, for 60 days after publication. If adopted, the measures would represent one of the most significant expansions of digital-identity and online-activity screening in the history of US immigration policy.