International travelers heading to the U.S. may soon have to provide five years of social media history to enter the country, following a proposal from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The proposal filed in the Federal Register on Wednesday would require travelers to submit the online information when filling out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization application. This applies to travelers from visa waiver program countries who plan to stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days, including those from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Greece, Japan and Australia.
Additionally, the proposal would add “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application, including any email addresses used in the last 10 years, telephone numbers used in the past five years and information on travelers’ family members (and their phone numbers). Travelers would also be required to include the IP addresses and metadata of any photos submitted electronically, along with biometric information, including from their face, fingerprints, iris or DNA.
The CBP said it also plans to make selfies a mandatory part of the application in addition to a photo of travelers’ passports.
The filing in the Federal Register comes with a 60-day comment period in which “the public and affected agencies” can weigh in.
Currently, travelers who are eligible for the visa waiver program are simply required to provide an email address, their home address, their phone number and an emergency contact in addition to paying a $40 application fee (an increase this year from the previous cost of $21). The travel authorization is then valid for two years.
Providing social media information has been an optional part of the application since 2016, according to The New York Times.
Xiao Wang, the co-founder and chief executive of Boundless, a visa- and immigration-assistance company, told the paper he expects the government to now view a lack of social media information as “a sign that the applicant is hiding something.”
A CBP spokesperson told The New York Times that the proposal was not a final rule but rather the “first step in starting a discussion to have new policy options to keep the American people safe.”
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Erik Hansen, the senior vice president and head of government relations for the U.S. Travel Association, told TPG the group was “reviewing the proposed changes and working with the administration to ensure we can safely and efficiently welcome millions of visitors for the World Cup and other major global events.”
“Screening must keep travelers and our nation safe, but it must also keep the United States competitive,” Hansen added. “If we fail to deliver an efficient, secure and modern vetting process, international visitors will choose other destinations.”
Making travel harder for foreign visitors
This isn’t the first step the Trump administration has taken to single out international visitors to the U.S. It follows a slew of new rules that are affecting inbound travel.
Starting Jan. 1, 2026, non-U.S. residents will be required to pay an extra $100 fee or purchase a $250 annual pass to visit some of the most popular national parks in what the administration has called “America-first pricing.” And earlier this year, the government implemented a $250 “visa integrity fee” for travelers to the U.S. with nonimmigrant visas, including tourists, business travelers and international students, according to CNBC. That fee could go up.
As we reported in our 2026 Travel Trends report, the U.S. tourism industry has taken a big hit this year.
International travel to the U.S., in particular, has suffered. In fact, inbound international travel is expected to decrease this year for the first time since 2020, falling to just 85% of 2019 levels, according to data from the U.S. Travel Association. And the World Travel & Tourism Council estimated earlier this year that the U.S. was on track to lose $12.5 billion in international visitor spending in 2025.
However, the U.S. Travel Association said things could change in 2026 thanks to big events like the FIFA World Cup.
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