Show what you liked or you won't enter. The US wants to screen profiles from 5 years ago

The US authorities want people planning to come to the United States to provide the services with a five-year history of their activity in social networks, American media reported on Wednesday. This would apply to countries exempt from the visa requirement, including Poland.

The proposed requirement would cover people using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). It applies to 42 countries, including: Poland, Italy, Germany. VWP allows citizens of these countries to come to the USA for business or tourist purposes for up to 90 days without the need to obtain a visa.

As the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, President Donald Trump's administration maintains that changing the requirements is necessary to align them with an executive order aimed at protecting the United States from external threats.

The proposal, submitted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), is subject to public discussion for 60 days. Implementation of the new requirements may take several months.

The newspaper emphasized that it is not known whether the proposed recommendation applies only to public posts on social media or also to private messages.

Currently, travelers using ESTA are required to provide their name, surname, date of birth and passport details. You should also disclose any arrests or convictions for certain offenses and any history of visa refusal or deportation.

CBP proposes also asking for additional information “where possible,” such as email addresses used for professional purposes in the past 10 years, names of family members and telephone numbers used in the previous five years.

The daily noted that the Department of State had previously announced new requirements for applicants for certain types of visas, including students and applicants for H-1B visas. These people are obliged to make their profiles public on social networks. “Verification has proven so burdensome that the State Department has begun canceling some visa interviews because it cannot keep up with the workload,” WSJ reported.

From Washington Natalia Dziurdzińska (PAP)

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