OAN Staff Blake Wolf
1:37 PM – Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposed a new rule on Tuesday to change Visa Waiver Program (VWP) eligibility, requiring foreign tourists to disclose their social media history from the past five years along with other personal information not previously asked for.
CBP published the notice in the Federal Register, proposing changes to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which is required for travelers from the 42 Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries to visit the U.S. for up to 90 days without a traditional visa.
The new proposal introduces a more intensive review of foreign tourists visiting from eligible nations.
The proposed mandatory five-year social media disclosure for ESTA applicants is designed to let officers search public posts, profiles, and activity for evidence of national security or public-safety risks.
According to reports, federal reviewers will primarily look for support or advocacy for designated terrorist organizations, expressions of violent extremism, overt hostility toward the United States, its government, citizens, or founding principles, antisemitic content that incites or perpetrates unlawful harassment or violence, indications of criminal activity such as trafficking or fraud, and inconsistencies between an applicant’s social media presence and the claimed purpose of travel. Associations with sanctioned individuals, red flags from travel to high-risk areas, or a complete lack of online footprint, which can trigger a “negative inference” about credibility, will be highlighted as well.
Should the new proposal take effect, the ESTA application would introduce the social media check, as well as “baseline biographic data” from “several high-value data fields,” which include fingerprint and iris scans, email addresses from the past decade, along with telephone numbers, family information, and a “selfie” photo.
The proposal also includes a voluntary “self-reported exit” feature, allowing foreign visitors to confirm their exit from the United States by providing their geolocation, passport data, and a live selfie.
“In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] ESTA application,” the announcement from the federal register read. “The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years.”
CBP proclaimed that the new measures are essential in reducing fraudulent applications by improving identity verification measures, ultimately making Americans safer.
The latest CBP proposal also aligns with President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and potential national security threats, ensuring that foreign nations applying to visit the U.S. undergo higher levels of scrutiny for their online behavior.
“They’re checking whether the story you’re telling — who you are and why you’re traveling — aligns with your digital footprint,” immigration attorney Susanne Heubel told USA Today. “If you are a common-sense sort of careful traveler, you should not have any issues,” she added.
Nonetheless, the change is still at its proposal stage — and is not in effect yet.
Since it is still a proposal, the U.S. government has asked the public what they think about it, giving the public a 60-day public comment period. Anyone in the world, including U.S. citizens, foreigners, companies, or organizations, can send in their opinion. The deadline for sending those comments is February 9, 2026.
People can submit their public comments on the CBP proposed ESTA changes via email to [email protected]. Include the OMB Control Number 1651-0111 in the subject line, along with the agency name (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), and ensure your comments are in English.
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