Washington: India has for years been among the top two countries from where students go to the US to pursue their higher education. In the last few years, Indians have outranked China to emerge as the largest contingent of international students in the US.
The USA's decision to pause student visa interviews globally will impact aspiring Indian students the most. The Donald Trump administration this week ordered its embassies and consulates worldwide to not schedule any new interviews for student-visa applicants. The reason behind the move is that the US administration is in the process of ramping up vetting of social media profiles of all applicants.
This new move is likely to result in significantly longer wait times for applications to be scrutinized, thereby delaying the interview schedules and making the visa approval process much longer.
The move is part of a broader review process aimed at implementing expanded social media screening for student and exchange visitor visa applicants. As a result, new applicants may face delays.
There is no deadline set for this, so it is uncertain as to how long the "pause" is likely to remain in effect. This latest development comes amid President Trump's ongoing battle with US universities and colleges, including those which are part of the Ivy league.
According to the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, there are more than 11,26,690 foreign students enrolled in America as of 2023-24. Of these, 3,31,602 students, who went to study in the US in 2023-24 are from India - the highest among all countries globally. China followed in second place with 2,77,398 students. All the other nations combined made up the remaining 5,17,690 for that year.
India's year-on-year increase in student enrolment in the US was a staggering 23.3 per cent. Indian students alone made up for nearly 30 percent of all the international students in America in 2023-24, as per reports.
Court rejects Team Trump's 'ceasefire' argument
Despite the US government’s argument that new tariffs were crucial to supporting the May 10 ceasefire between India and Pakistan, a federal trade court has blocked President Donald Trump from imposing the tariffs, ruling that he exceeded the legal authority granted to him.
The administration told the court that the ceasefire “was achieved only after both countries were offered trading access with the US to avert a full-scale war.” However, the court ruled against the government.
