U.S. visas issued to Indian students decline by 30% in Trump’s first month of presidency

Student visas for Indians in the U.S. dropped by 30% in February 2025, leading to legal action and government intervention.

In February 2025, the first month of the second Donald Trump administration, the number of student visas issued to Indians by the U.S. dropped by 30% compared to the same month the previous year. This decline was notably higher than the overall 4.75% decrease in student visas granted by the U.S. to all countries combined.

Moreover, the drop in student visas issued to Indians was much sharper than the decline in visas issued to Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese students.

This worrying statistic comes at a tumultuous time when the visas of over 1,000 international students, including Indians, across the U.S. have been terminated or revoked without much notice. According to the Associated Press, at least 1,100 students across 170 colleges across the U.S. have been affected.

Many students have filed lawsuits against the terminations. Associated Press quoted the name of at least one such Indian student, Manikanta Pasula, who was about to get a Master’s degree in computer science at Rivier University in New Hampshire. Chinmay Deore, along with four other students at public universities in Michigan, have also filed a lawsuit.

According to a report in The Hindu, the Indian government too has shifted its stance, from advising the students to “follow the law” to “offering them support” by reaching out to the affected students. Officials of the External Affairs Ministry are now advising affected students to pursue the “legal route”.

Chart 1 shows the percentage drop in F-1 visas (student visas) issued in February 2025 compared to February 2024. It shows the data only for the top four countries that received the most number of student visas in February 2024.

Chart 1 | Percentage drop in F-1 visas (student visas) issued in February 2025 compared to February 2024