 "Indians turned away from the American student visa, know what the situation may be after Trump comes")
Between January and September this year, the number of visas granted to Indian students in the US has dropped significantly. In the first nine months of 2024, F-1 student visas issued to Indian students dropped by 38 percent, according to data from the US State Department.
If compared to last year, this is the biggest drop since Corona. Whereas, post-Covid, US universities saw an increase in the number of international students. There has also been a decrease in student visas from other countries but it is very less compared to Indian students. Whether the extreme strictness seen in the visa rules of America after the arrival of Donald Trump can be more strict or not, nothing clear can be said about it at the moment.
According to an Indian Express report, the number of F-1 visas issued to Indian students has reached its lowest level since Covid. Only 64008 visas were issued between January and September 2024, which is definitely lower than the 103495 visas for the same period in 2023. During the same period, 65235 visas were issued in 2021 and 93181 visas in 2022. Only 6,646 F-1 visas were issued in the first nine months of 2020 during Corona.
If compared to other countries, there has been a decrease in visas for Chinese students, but this decrease is less compared to Indian students. 8 percent fewer visas were issued to Chinese students in 2024. Between January and September this year, 73,781 F-1 visas were issued to Chinese students, compared to 80,603 last year.
Let’s know what is F-1 visa:
The F-1 visa is for students studying at US academic institutions. In the last financial year 2022-2023, India overtook China in issuing new student visas. According to the On Door 2024 report, the number of Indian students in US universities crossed 3,31,000 in 2023-24, accounting for 29.4 percent of the total international students. In this regard, when the spokesperson of the US State Department was contacted, he said that the students who tried to give the visa interview this year have got the opportunity to give the interview. Experts say delays in visa processing and long waits for interviews could also be the main reasons for this.