# US social-media checks: the list of visa types, and why B1/B2 is not on it

> The US Mission India names the categories told to set social accounts to public: F, M, J, H-1B, K and others. B1/B2 applicants are not on that list.

- Published: 2026-08-20
- Author: VisaGyan (VisaGyan)
- Canonical: https://visagyan.in/us-visa-social-media-public-which-categories
- Official sources:
  - https://in.usembassy.gov/visas/
  - https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/visa-applicant-social-media-information.html

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Indian students and H-1B applicants have been told for months to make their social accounts public. Tourists heard the same thing and panicked. The US Mission India's own instruction settles it: the requirement is attached to a **named list of visa categories**, and B1/B2 is not on it.

## The exact list

The Mission's visa page instructs "all individuals applying for an A-3, C-3 (if a domestic worker), G-5, H1-B, H-3, H-4 dependent of H-1B and H-3, F, M, J, K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R-1, R-2, S, T, or U nonimmigrant visa" to "adjust the privacy setting on all social media accounts to 'public' or 'open' to facilitate vetting necessary to establish their identity and admissibility to the United States under U.S. law."

Read it as three groups: study and exchange (F, M, J), work and dependants (H-1B, H-3, H-4, plus domestic-worker categories A-3, C-3, G-5), and family or special categories (K-1, K-2, K-3, Q, R, S, T, U). Visitor visas — the B1/B2 that most Indian travellers apply for — are absent.

## What every applicant still has to do

Declare the handles. The DS-160 asks all applicants for social media identifiers used in the previous five years, and that has not changed. The privacy-setting instruction is an additional step for the listed categories, not a replacement for the declaration.

The practical risk is not an embarrassing post — it is an omission. A handle you forget, or leave out because the account is dormant, turns into a discrepancy if vetting surfaces it later, and a discrepancy in a form you signed is a materially different problem from a bad opinion online. The [DS-160 mistakes that cost people the interview](/ds-160-mistakes-that-cost-you-the-interview) guide covers the fields where this goes wrong most often.

If you are applying for a visitor visa, none of this changes your file: the questions that decide a B1/B2 are still purpose of travel and ties, as covered in [214(b) and 221(g): what to do next](/us-visa-refused-214b-221g-what-to-do) and [US visa interview questions](/us-b1b2-visa-interview-questions-india).

*VisaGyan is an independent journal, not affiliated with the US government. This is not legal advice; check the Mission's own page before you apply.*