Emmanuel Ayomide-Praise (Eapgold Travels Limited) Many of the big embassies and their visa officers now look at your social media profiles and digital footprints while taking a decision on whether to issue you a visa or not in 2026! This was not so some years ago. Today, the game has changed! The United States visa application form, better known as DS-160 already has the section where you include the handles of all social media accounts including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Threads and many more. Apart from DS-160, other countries such as Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand now have their visa officers checking your social media history and online footprint so it is important to have this at the back of your mind when submitting a visa application because this is now a major factor in determining the success of your application. There are two sides to it; if you have social media handles but refuse to disclose them in your application (for example a B-1/B-2 application), they will find out and it can be flagged as misrepresentation or deliberately refusing to disclose relevant information. On the other hand, if you include those handles, your social media history and digital footprint would be looked into for possible misalignment. The unfortunate part about this is that even if you qualify for the visa and you have met all the requirements, you may be denied based on careless social media activity so your application and your footprint should align otherwise your chances of visa refusal become much higher. In this regard, what should you be looking out for when preparing your visa application, putting documents together or getting set for your visa interview? I am talking specifically in relation to your social media activity such as posts, comments, videos, shared information, retweets etc. You should be looking out for a few of these issues below; (1) Original Intention Versus Social Media Evidence: One of the things the officers would be looking out for is whether your intentions of traveling align with your purpose of travel. For example, you are applying for a visit or a student visa but one of your old posts or harmless comments on social media confirms that you are interested in ‘Japa’ or relocation. Your original intention of visit or study will then be in doubt and could be seen as a red flag. (2) Other Red Flags: the officers will be on the lookout for other red flags which may include political posts, sensitive language, flagged content and many more. Consular officers would typically be trying to spot any of these and any such item found will bring you under intense scrutiny to determine whether you merit a visa approval or otherwise. (3) Consistency In Your Visa Forms, Employment Dates, History & General Alignment In Your Documentation: when checking your social media activity, today’s visa officers would be spotting whether your application profile matches with your profile in real life. Your real age, date of birth, schools attended, former and present places of employment with dates of resumption and exits etc. They would likely also make a scan to determine whether the role you said you undertake (e g in an employment or even a business you claim to own) match the role you have indicated in your application forms and visa documentation. Any disparity or mismatch in all of this would be noted by the visa officer and could determine the direction or outcome of your application. With these few points of mine, I hope I have been able to convince you that putting your social media profile in order could determine the outcome of your visa application and improve the possibility of visa approval.