India, May 27 -- President Donald Trump's administration has asked consular missions across the world to pause new student visa interviews as part of plans to mandate all foreign students seeking to study in the US to undergo vetting of their social media activity, Politico reported, citing documents signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The report said that the move could severely hurt student visa processing and hurt many US universities that heavily rely on foreign student admissions to stay financially viable.

"Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity un...