Chicago – June 11, 2025
Last month President Donald Trump’s administration asked US embassies across the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas and expand social media vetting of applicants.
This wider move followed a crackdown on America’s elite universities like Harvard, which Trump accused of being too liberal and of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
Trump’s decisions have had far-reaching repercussions in India, which sends more international students to the US than any other country.
Over the last month, the BBC spoke with at least 20 students at various stages of their application process, all of whom echoed deep anxieties about their futures. Most chose to remain anonymous, fearing retribution from the US government and worried that speaking out now could hurt their chances of obtaining a visa, or renewing it.
More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US colleges in the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, an organisation that collects data on foreign students.
Nearly a third of them, or more than 330,000, were from India.
Educational consultants report that applications to US universities for the upcoming autumn semester have dropped by at least 30% because of the uncertainty.
“Their biggest fear is safety – what if their visas are rejected or they’re deported mid-term?” said Naveen Chopra, founder of TC Global, an international education consultancy.
Experts say many students are now either deferring their plans or switching to countries perceived to be more “stable” like the UK, Germany, Ireland and Australia.
