The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has proposed requiring ESTA applicants to disclose five years of social media activity, causing unease among Korean travelers. This rule targets visa waiver program users and stems from an executive order by President Donald Trump. Travelers worry that stricter immigration procedures are making U.S. visits less welcoming.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has proposed a new rule requiring ESTA applicants to disclose their social media activity from the past five years. This would apply to visitors from Korea and over 40 other countries under the visa waiver program, which permits stays of up to 90 days for tourism or business. CBP stated the changes are to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on his first day in his new term.
The proposal also includes collecting phone numbers used in the last five years, email addresses from the past 10 years, and detailed information on close family members. It further suggests gathering IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos. A notice in the Federal Register opens a 60-day public comment period, after which the agency may revise it before final approval.
Similar social media reviews have already been in place for certain visa applicants, such as those for H-1B professional visas and student visas. A 41-year-old Korean woman planning to visit her aunt in the U.S. with her husband and son next year expressed growing unease about the proposal. Speaking anonymously, she told The Korea Times, “I do not think anything would happen to my family during the immigration process, but if it does, it’s a big deal.” She added, “That thought really scares me.”
Frequent travelers to the U.S. voiced deeper concerns about the underlying message. They view the social media rule, combined with a recent ESTA fee hike and an upcoming surcharge for non-U.S. visitors to national parks, as reminders that foreigners are merely “just visitors.” An official at an international organization, speaking anonymously, said, “In recent months, the immigration process has apparently been stricter … I don’t worry too much for myself, but for travelers, it doesn’t feel like the ideal moment to plan a trip to the U.S. now.”
The plan raises particular worries for tourism ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. An official at Modetour, a major Korean travel agency, cautioned, “I expect the impact on demand for U.S. travel to be limited at this point, but if people really start getting turned away over their social media posts, it could make potential travelers think twice about going there.”
