New Delhi, June 26 -- The United States (US) Embassy in New Delhi Thursday directed all visa applicants to stipulate details of all their social media handles from the past five years for background checks -- failure to comply could lead to visa rejection, the embassy said. This comes close on the heels of the United States' decision to require all student visa applicants to make their social media accounts public for vetting purposes.

"Visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles of every platform they have used in the last five years on the DS-160 visa application form. Applicants certify that the information in their visa application is true and correct before they sign and submit," the embassy said in a ...