// DS-160 · SOCIAL MEDIA FIELDS

How to fill the DS-160 social media section

Direct answer: The DS-160 asks you to select every social media platform you have used within the last five years from an official list, then enter your username or handle for each; identifiers only — never passwords — and false answers here count as misrepresentation.

Source: DS-160 overview

What the question actually asks

In the work/education/social-information part of the DS-160, the form asks whether you use social media, phrased roughly as: select from the list each social media platform you have used within the last five years. The list is fixed by the form itself — you cannot type in a platform name of your own.

The list spans international and Chinese platforms. Entries commonly cited from the form include Facebook, Flickr, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, MySpace, Reddit, Twitter, ASKfm, Douban, Qzone (QQ), Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo. Treat the dropdown you actually see as authoritative; the list has changed over time.

After you select a platform, the form asks for your identifier on it — the username, account name, or profile name. One platform can carry multiple accounts; platforms you have never used are simply left unselected.

How to fill it: platform by platform, account by account

The right workflow is inventory → select → enter: spend ten minutes listing every platform and account you genuinely used in the past five years (including dormant secondary accounts), then tick them in the form, then enter each identifier.

Enter usernames/account names — for example the handle after the @ on Weibo, or the QQ number for Qzone.
Multiple accounts on one platform: enter multiple identifiers as the form directs.
Platforms you have never used: leave unselected.
Cannot recall a handle: check it in the app or on the web first; never type a “close enough” guess.
Never enter a password; no official visa form asks for social media passwords.

Why accuracy is non-negotiable

The official DS-160 guidance requires every question to be answered accurately and completely. Social media identifiers are part of the formal record — giving false information here is the same category of act as falsifying any other field.

The consequence is statutory: willfully misrepresenting a material fact to obtain a visa is an ineligibility under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i), and it is permanent. That means not only losing this application, but also having to disclose the misrepresentation in every future application.

A calmer way to see the question: it is not a test of what you can hide, but a cross-check that your identity and life trajectory match your application narrative. Someone answering truthfully has nothing to manage.

Four common mistakes

From applicant feedback, errors in this field are almost always unconscious omissions rather than deliberate concealment:

Skipping secondary or old accounts: an account registered five years ago but long dormant still counts as used.
Entering a password instead of an identifier: the form wants usernames; a password in any field is wrong and risky.
Entering someone else's account: easy to do on a shared family device — a second pass of verification prevents it.
Typing from memory: an identifier off by one character is inaccurate information, equivalent to a nonexistent account.

Keeping it consistent with the interview

By the time you reach the window, the officer has read your DS-160. If your form lists several platforms and your spoken answer to “which apps do you use?” clearly does not match, you have manufactured an inconsistency that never needed to exist.

Before the interview, re-read the social media section of your own form and make sure you remember what you entered. A mock interview is a good way to rehearse the state of “I can recite what my form says”: qianyu (VisaIsle) is an AI mock visa interviewer for the US B1/B2 visa that cross-checks your DS-160 against your spoken answers for inconsistencies.

Before submitting: verify the spelling of every identifier, platform by platform.
Before the interview: re-read what you entered so you can recall it.
When unsure: defer to the in-form guidance and the instructions of the post where you apply.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Does the DS-160 ask for my social media password? A: No. The form asks for social media identifiers (usernames/accounts), never passwords; do not enter a password in any visa form.
Q: What about accounts I deleted five years ago? A: The question covers platforms you used “within the last five years”. The form gives no separate instruction for deleted accounts; go by your actual usage, and when unsure follow the form's guidance and your post's instructions.
Q: Are Chinese platforms on the official list? A: Yes — the list includes Douban, Qzone, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo; select per actual use and treat the dropdown you see as authoritative.
Q: What happens if I skip a secondary account? A: Willfully omitting or falsifying information is misrepresentation, which under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i) can be a permanent ineligibility. Listing every account you actually used is the safe course.
Q: Will they review my posts? A: The question itself only collects identifiers; the official process is not published in detail. What you control is truthful disclosure, not filtering.
Q: Do I have to set my accounts to public? A: For B1/B2 applicants the DS-160 sets no such requirement; if your post has separate instructions, follow that post's current guidance.

What else do applicants ask?

Does the DS-160 ask for my social media password?

No. The form asks for social media identifiers (usernames/accounts), never passwords; do not enter a password in any visa form.

What about accounts I deleted five years ago?

The question covers platforms you used “within the last five years”. The form gives no separate instruction for deleted accounts; go by your actual usage, and when unsure follow the form's guidance and your post's instructions.

Are Chinese platforms on the official list?

Yes — the list includes Douban, Qzone, Sina Weibo and Tencent Weibo; select per actual use and treat the dropdown you see as authoritative.

What happens if I skip a secondary account?

Willfully omitting or falsifying information is misrepresentation, which under INA 212(a)(6)(C)(i) can be a permanent ineligibility. Listing every account you actually used is the safe course.

Will they review my posts?

The question itself only collects identifiers; the official process is not published in detail. What you control is truthful disclosure, not filtering.

Do I have to set my accounts to public?

For B1/B2 applicants the DS-160 sets no such requirement; if your post has separate instructions, follow that post's current guidance.

What are the official numbers?

Every figure below was read from an official U.S. government page, not from experience or an agency's summary. Fees and rules change — before you actually pay or file, check the primary pages listed under the sources section. One row deliberately carries no number: the State Department has never published a fixed duration for administrative processing.

Item	Official value	Source
Non-petition-based visa application fee (includes B-1/B-2, F, J, M), non-refundable	US$185	State Dept. fee schedule
Petition-based visa application fee (H, L, O, P, Q, R)	US$205	State Dept. fee schedule
E treaty trader / investor visa fee	US$315	State Dept. fee schedule
DHS visa integrity fee — created by statute, not yet collected by DHS; do not add it to the fee above	US$250	PL 119-21 §100007
Official estimate for completing one DS-160	90 minutes	CEAC DS-160 instructions
Passport validity required beyond your intended stay	6 months	State Dept. visitor visa page
Window to submit documents after a 221(g) refusal (from the refusal date)	1 year	State Dept. administrative processing
How long administrative processing takes	no fixed time published; varies by case	State Dept. administrative processing
EVUS enrolment validity (or until the passport/visa expires, whichever is first)	2 years	EVUS
Re-entry bar after departing with more than 180 days of unlawful presence	3 years	8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(9)(B)
Re-entry bar after departing with 1 year or more of unlawful presence	10 years	8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(9)(B)

Every figure above was last checked against its source on 2026-08-27

Where are the official sources?

These are the primary sources this site cites — U.S. government pages and the statute text itself. Each one was opened and confirmed reachable on the date shown below. Wherever this site and an official page disagree, the official page is the one that counts.

U.S. Department of State — DS-160: Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application
U.S. Department of State — DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions
U.S. Department of State — Visitor Visa (B-1/B-2)The official statement of what B-1/B-2 does and does not permit, the application steps, and required documents.
U.S. Department of State — Fees for Visa ServicesThe only authoritative source for the application fee. Fees change — check this page before you pay.
CEAC — Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application (DS-160)The DS-160 form itself, and where the confirmation page is reprinted.
USTravelDocs — appointments and fee payment (China)The official service for booking, rescheduling, paying and passport return; rules vary by the post where you apply.
8 U.S.C. §1184 — the statute behind a 214(b) refusalWhere the presumption of immigrant intent — the thing a 214(b) refusal actually applies — is written down.
EVUS — Electronic Visa Update SystemWhere holders of a 10-year B1/B2 on a PRC passport enrol before travelling.
9 FAM 402.1 — Overview of NIV ClassificationsThe Foreign Affairs Manual consular officers work from — more detailed than the applicant-facing pages.

How do you turn this into something you can say at the window?

Reading the guide is the easy half. What decides the outcome is whether you can say the same facts out loud, in order, under time pressure, at the window. qianyu (签屿/VisaIsle) is an AI mock visa interviewer for the US B1/B2 visitor visa: it reads your DS-160, cross-checks it against your spoken answers and supporting documents to catch every inconsistency, and drills you with realistic 214(b)-style consular questioning at three difficulty levels. Credit packs are pay-as-you-go — ¥29.9 for 1 credit, ¥59.9 for 3 — and new users get 1 free training credit on sign-up.

Updated 2026-08-27