New regulations implemented by the administration of United States President Donald Trump means that if you want a US visa, you’ll need to answer a questionnaire that includes filling in your social media handles.

The new questions were approved in late May by the Office of Management and Budget in hopes that the process will become even tighter, much to the criticism of officials and academic groups during a public comment period.

Those that argued against the new questions believed that they would be overly burdensome and thus would discourage international students and scientists from going to the US.

According to the State Department, the tighter vetting will apply to visa applicants "who have been determined to warrant additional scrutiny in connection with terrorism or other national security-related visa ineligibilities.”

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With these new questions, “prior passport numbers, five years' worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers and 15 years of biographical information including addresses, employment and travel history” can be requested by consular officials, according to Reuters.

"The United States has one of the most stringent visa application processes in the world," said Babak Yousefzadeh, a San Francisco-based attorney and president of the Iranian American Bar Association. "The need for tightening the application process further is really unknown and unclear." (sul/kes)