Visa Crisis: 50 Percent Of International Students Facing Revocation Are From India; MEA In Touch With US Govt

Amid the intensifying crisis over visa revocations in the United States, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) revealed that around 50 percent of international students in the US who have recently had their visas revoked, were from India. AILA's comments were based on 327 reports on these instances from students, attorneys, and university employees.

Recently, in line with Trump administration's stringent crackdown on foreign students, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records terminated the validity of visas of several international students.

Xiangyun Bu and Qiuyi Yang from China, who are currently doing masters and Ph.D. respectively from University of Michigan and Yogesh Joshi from Nepal who is also doing Ph.D. from Wayne State University are also facing deportation issues.

Moreover, AILA also highlighted that 50 percent of these students were on Optional Practical Training (OPT), which means that they have graduated and are employed in the United States.

Citing data, The Indian Express reported that Indians constitute the largest number of international student in the US in 2023-24. Of the 11,26,690 international students in 2023-24, 3,31,602 students were from India (29% of the total) which was followed by 2.77 lakh Chinese students which constituted 14 percent of the foreign students cohort.

Taking cognisance of the development, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday said that the India government is in touch with students to provide support.

OPT, SEVIS: What Are They?

As per US immigration policy, OPT period allows international students who are in the US on an F1 visa, to work for up to 12 months, followed by an option to extend this by another 24 months in the case of fields that comprise science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Out of the almost 3.32 lakh Indian students in 2023-24, around 29 per cent or 97,556 students were on OPT.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a US government database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security.

A terminated SEVIS record implies that the student no longer maintains “F or M status” (student visas are either F or M visas),which leads to the student's job loss. Moreover, the student is refrained from re-entering the US on the terminated record.

Congress Reacts

Sharing AILA라이브 바카라 note on X, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote, “The press statement issued by the American Immigration Lawyers Association yesterday is a matter of concern for India. Of the 327 visa cancellation cases of international students collected so far by the organisation, 50% are Indian students. The reasons for visa cancellation are inconsistent and vague. This is constantly increasing fear and apprehension among the students. Will the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar take cognizance of this matter and raise it with his US counterpart?”