The United States is proposing sweeping changes to its visa-free travel programme that could affect millions of international travelers.
Under new guidelines announced by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Wednesday, applicants using the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) will be required to provide their social media history covering the past five years.
The proposal, published in a public notice ahead of its listing in the Federal Register, is part of a broader push to strengthen national security.
It follows Executive Order 14161, signed in January 2025, which called for tighter screening measures to identify foreign threats.
“The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last five years,” the DHS notice stated.
Currently, ESTA applicants are only asked to voluntarily submit social media accounts. Under the new rules, disclosure will become mandatory.
US Customs and Border Protection explained that the change is designed to better verify identities, flag fraudulent applications, and detect potential risks.
In addition to social media history, the revised regulations will require more personal information, including email addresses used in the last 10 years, phone numbers from the past five years, IP addresses, and even metadata from photos submitted during the application process.
The proposal also calls for more detailed family information and a wider range of biometric data, such as facial recognition, fingerprints, iris scans, and DNA samples.
DHS said the expanded collection aligns with updated federal biographic-data requirements issued earlier this year.
Impact on Travelers
Another major change is the transition from the ESTA web portal to a mobile-only application system. If approved, the rules will affect travellers from the 40 countries currently participating in the US Visa Waiver Programme.
With more than 14 million ESTA applications processed annually, the impact on global travel could be significant. DHS is seeking public feedback for 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
If the proposal moves forward, it will mark one of the most extensive expansions of digital identity and social media vetting in US immigration history.
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