Washington: Australian travellers will be forced to provide their social media details to US authorities to enter the country under the popular Visa Waiver Program, as part of new Trump administration rules for “enhanced vetting” of foreigners.

Applying for a visa waiver is also set to get more complicated, with authorities planning to collect far more detailed information including five years of phone numbers, 10 years of email addresses, IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos, biometrics, and information about family members.

Australia is one of 42 countries with access to the Visa Waiver Program, allowing visitors to enter the US for 90 days by obtaining a waiver, known as the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which is available quickly and costs only $US40 ($60).

A notice filed by US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security overnight is seeking comment on a proposal that will require ESTA applicants to provide the names of their social media accounts for the past five years.

Currently, ESTA applicants may voluntarily provide their social media history, and are prompted for their Facebook profile, LinkedIn name, Instagram handle and Twitter/X identification – but it is not yet mandatory.

“CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application,” the notice filed overnight said. “The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last five years.”

It says the change is designed to comply an executive order from President Donald Trump in January, titled: Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.

That order compelled authorities to “re-establish a uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures, consistent with the uniform baseline that existed on January 19, 2021 [the last day of Trump’s first term] that will be used for any alien seeking a visa or immigration benefit of any kind”.

CBP will also add several “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application “when feasible”. These fields include: phone numbers for the past five years, email addresses for the past 10 years, IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos, family member names, numbers, dates of birth, places of birth and place of residence, biometrics such as face, fingerprint, DNA and iris, and business contact details.

The changes are open to public comment for the next 60 days and must be approved by the powerful Office of Management and Budget, run by Trump appointee Russell Vought.

US immigration advisory firm Fragomen says that if the changes are implemented, visitors to the US should be aware they will be asked for a higher level of personal detail and become subject to a social media review.

“The increase in data collection could also mean that ESTA applicants would face an increased likelihood of being flagged for closer scrutiny and/or would experience longer waits for ESTA approval,” Fragomen says.

“The United States, like Australia, is a sovereign nation,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

“They have a right to set the rules which are there. And we give advice on Smartraveller to Australians travelling to destinations overseas about what are the expectations of particular countries … so we comply with laws. This is a decision that the United States is making. We recognise that.”

More than 1 million Australians travelled to the US in 2024, with most using the Visa Waiver Program for short stays. From January to October this year, 810,000 Australians have entered the US – down 5.6 per cent, US data says. For tourist visas, the number is down 6.4 per cent.

A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said visa conditions were a matter for the country that issues them.

Other countries on the program that will be affected by the new policy include the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and Qatar.

In June, Australian man Alistair Kitchen was detained and questioned at the US border about pro-Palestinian protests he attended while studying at Columbia University, and which he wrote about on his blog.

He said he was questioned about his views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and ultimately deported back to Australia after admitting to past drug use.

The latest move expands on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown following the shooting of two National Guard troops in Washington in November, over which an Afghan refugee has been charged.

The US plans to expand the travel ban that Trump applied in June to 19 countries, including 12 that are subject to a complete ban and seven that have a partial one.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, local time, Trump resurrected his infamous description of “shithole countries”, which was leaked from a meeting with lawmakers during his first term.

“We had a meeting, and I say, ‘Why is it that we only take people from shithole countries?’ ” Trump told the rally.

“Why can’t we have some people from Norway, Sweden, just a few … but we always take people from Somalia, places that are a disaster – filthy, dirty, disgusting, ridden with crime.”

With Brittany Busch

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.