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Application for a US visa now requires information about social media accounts. I know that intentionally omitting this information constitutes misrepresentation, but what are the potential consequences of not disclosing the social media information?

Is it just the risk of being denied a visa and deportation?

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  • If you are denied a visa, you are not in the US, so you can't be deported.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 26, 2021 at 13:16

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A sample visa application is provided here. On p. 80, it warns that the submission of an application that contains false or misleading information may result in permanent refusal of a visa or denial of entry, and that all declarations are unsworn declarations made under perjury of penalty, 28 USC 1746 the penalty being specified as a fine and up to 5 years prison in 18 USC 1621.

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Lying to US authorities rarely goes well. The problem is that even being truthful can cause issues

Earlier this week, incoming Harvard freshman Ismail B. Ajjawi found himself blocked from entering the US. Ajjawi, a Palestinian resident of Lebanon, had landed in Boston before the start of classes. But The Harvard Crimson reported that after hours of questioning, US Customs and Border Protection agents revoked his visa. Ajjawi said a CBP agent searched his phone and laptop while asking questions about his friends’ social media activity. Then, she “started screaming at me,” Ajjawi said. “She said that she found people posting political points of view that oppose the US on my friend[s] list.”

It's really hard to say how consequential lying would be. CBP has broad authority to deny entry, and if a CBP officer investigates you and finds you omitted something it's possible they deny you entry. The most likely way you would get caught would be if CBP searches your phone on entry and finds undisclosed social media accounts.

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  • They can do what now? Disgusting. People posting opposing political points is literally literally in the Constitution.
    – Mazura
    Commented Nov 24, 2021 at 2:00
  • @Mazura which really only applies to US citizens rights. They are sometimes extended to foreigners but if I understand correctly they are not in any way guaranteed
    – DRF
    Commented Nov 25, 2021 at 8:40
  • @mazura Oh never mind this actually applies to US citizens too. That's pretty aweful.
    – DRF
    Commented Nov 25, 2021 at 8:42
  • @DRF freedom of speech applies to everyone in the US regardless of citizenship. Visa applicants are not in tbe US, however. And US citizens cannot be denied admission to the US because of statements critical of the US government, whether made by friends or by the traveler him- or herself.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 26, 2021 at 13:18
  • "It's really hard to say how consequential lying would be": on the contrary, it is very easy to say. See user102008's answer.
    – phoog
    Commented Nov 26, 2021 at 13:22
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Under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i) (codified as 8 USC 1182(a)(6)(C)(i)), fraud or willful misrepresentation of a material fact in visa application or entry leads to a lifetime ban.

Any alien who, by fraud or willfully misrepresenting a material fact, seeks to procure (or has sought to procure or has procured) a visa, other documentation, or admission into the United States or other benefit provided under this chapter is inadmissible.

See USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 8, Part J and the Foreign Affairs Manual, 9 FAM 302.9-4 for more information on this ban.

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