Now Reading: US student visas for Indians fell 62% in 2025, report says
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US student visas for Indians fell 62% in 2025, report says
The US issued 22,149 F-1 student visas to Indian nationals between May and August 2025, down 62% from 58,694 a year earlier, according to a Centre for Immigration Studies report. Visas for…
The Story in Brief
The US issued 22,149 F-1 student visas to Indian nationals between May and August 2025, down 62% from 58,694 a year earlier, according to a Centre for Immigration Studies report. Visas for Chinese nationals fell 34% to 40,034. The report compared the months when most student visas are issued before the academic year.
Indian students remained the largest foreign student group in US higher education, numbering 363,019 in 2024-25, compared with 265,919 Chinese students. The two groups made up 53% of all international students. The report said 143,740 Indian graduates were working under the Optional Practical Training programme, which it urged the US government to scrap.
The Indian Opinion
Claims that the visa fall proves Indian students are abandoning US education go beyond the data. So does the CIS argument that OPT alone harms American workers or that Chinese students generally pose security risks. The figures show a sharp fall in new visas, but Indian enrolment and OPT participation remained high. Any policy change should be judged against future enrolment, graduate employment and wage data, not one four-month visa count.
Sources (2): livemint.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
