From green cards to US visa bans: What Trump's return changed in 2025

Travel bans, tighter vetting, H-1B changes and student visa revocations marked a year of sharp shifts for Indians under Trump's second term

The United States’ immigration system went through its sharpest reset in years in 2025, following President Donald Trump’s return to office on January 20. Over the next eleven months, the administration rolled out a layered mix of travel bans, visa rule changes, tougher screening and enforcement-driven policies that reshaped how foreigners enter, stay and settle in the country.

 

While India avoided the blunt edge of travel bans, Indians were among the most affected by visa delays, enhanced scrutiny and costlier pathways, particularly in work, student and family categories.

 

January: Resetting the system on day one

 

Trump began his second term by signing an executive order on enhanced vetting and border control, directing federal agencies to reassess visa issuance, refugee admissions and enforcement tools. Within a week, refugee admissions were paused pending an inter-agency review, effectively shutting down new resettlements.

 

 

On the same day, the administration made clear that US citizenship rules themselves were up for reconsideration, reopening a debate that goes to the core of American immigration law.

 

In public remarks and briefing documents circulated on inauguration day, Trump said his administration would move to end automatic birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to parents who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents. The proposal targets the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which has for more than a century granted citizenship to almost anyone born on US soil.

 

Senior officials said the administration would pursue the change through a mix of executive action and legal reinterpretation, arguing that the constitutional guarantee applies only to those “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States — language Trump has repeatedly claimed excludes undocumented migrants and some temporary visa holders.

 

While no immediate rule took effect in January, the announcement alone had consequences. Immigration lawyers warned that any executive action would almost certainly face court challenges, but also cautioned families that policy uncertainty itself could affect future benefit applications, status adjustments and consular decisions.

 

Consular officers were instructed to expand background checks, laying the groundwork for the stricter screening that would follow through the year.

 

Travel bans return, expanded and tiered

 

The most visible change came in June, when the White House issued a presidential proclamation restricting entry from a group of countries deemed security or public-safety risks.

 

The full travel ban list initially covered Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Partial restrictions applied to Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela, limiting access to certain visa categories.

 

By December, the list widened further to include countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The bans applied primarily to new visa applicants outside the US, while visas valid on June 9 were not cancelled.

 

India did not feature on any travel ban list, but Indian applicants still faced the knock-on effects of a system operating under heightened security thresholds.

 

Work visas: The H-1B lottery’s end gets formalised

 

One of the biggest structural shifts of the year was the move to end the random H-1B cap lottery.

 

In late December, DHS published a final rule establishing a “weighted selection process” that generally favours higher-paid and higher-skilled candidates, replacing the pure random lottery for cap-subject H-1Bs.

 

The Federal Register entry dated December 29, 2025 sets out the new framework and timing.

 

Indians dominate H-1B demand and approvals in most years, so a selection model that weights by wages and roles can reshape which Indian profiles succeed, and which employers keep filing.

 

December: Digital vetting becomes standard for H-1B/H-4, alongside student categories

 

The most disruptive operational change for Indians late in the year was the State Department’s decision to expand “online presence reviews”.

 

From December 15, 2025, the State Department said it would expand online presence reviews to all H-1B applicants and their H-4 dependants, and instructed H-1B/H-4 applicants, as well as F, M and J applicants, to set social media profiles to “public” to facilitate screening.

 

A cable directed consular officers to review items such as résumés and LinkedIn profiles and to check for work areas connected to information controls and related fields.

 

Embassy delays and travel warnings

 

By late December, companies were warning staff not to travel internationally because of visa processing delays at US missions. Google and Apple warned employees with US visas against international travel due to embassy delays.

 

Students: Visa revocations become a defining enforcement tool

 

Student mobility became a high-enforcement area in 2025.

 

In August, the administration said it had revoked more than 6,000 student visas, citing overstays and law-breaking, with a small minority linked to alleged “support for terrorism”.

 

By the end of 2025, the State Department had revoked over 95,000 visas across categories, including more than 8,000 held by international students. Many revocations related to past violations, incomplete disclosures or new vetting standards rather than fresh criminal charges.

 

Older DUI cases, long disclosed during previous visa approvals, resurfaced as grounds for revocation, catching long-term Indian workers off guard.

 

Self-deportation becomes a formal pathway, with cash incentives

 

The administration did not only push removals through arrests and deportation flights. It also built a “self-deport” track.

 

In March, the administration launched a “self-deportation” function via a CBP app called CBP Home, allowing undocumented migrants to signal an “intent to depart”.

 

In May, a $1,000 stipend and travel assistance were announced to encourage voluntary departure, saying it was cheaper than the reported average cost of arrest, detention and deportation.

 

In December, the stipend was tripled to $3,000, paired with a free flight for those who registered to leave by year-end, while also giving a 2025 removal figure of about 622,000.

 

Green cards: New investor route, tighter tracking, and a DV freeze

 

The “Gold Card” arrives, and EB-5 is put in the crosshairs

 

Trump floated early in 2025 the idea of replacing the EB-5 immigrant investor programme with a “gold card” route, initially talking publicly about a $5 million price tag.

 

By September 19, the White House issued an executive order titled “The Gold Card”, formally setting up the administration’s direction of travel.

 

In December, the administration officially launched the “Trump Gold Card” programme and pointed to TrumpCard.gov, where applicants can pay a $15,000 DHS fee for speedy processing. The official website describes a further payment model tied to residency after background approval.

 

Diversity visa (green card lottery) issuance is paused

 

In late December, the State Department issued updated guidance saying it had paused all visa issuances to diversity immigrant visa applicants, effective immediately.

 

USCIS also suspended approvals of pending DV adjustment applications while security reviews were conducted, and the State Department paused DV issuances too.

 

Green card holders and travellers: Biometrics become routine

 

On the border technology front, DHS finalised a rule to advance biometric entry and exit, effective December 26, 2025.

 

In October, the US expanded facial recognition at borders to track non-citizens.

 

For lawful permanent residents, the practical effect is simple: every entry and exit leaves a stronger digital trail, and inconsistencies in travel patterns, status or past issues are easier to surface across agencies.

 

Visa number availability and “annual limit reached” notices

 

Separate from enforcement, 2025 also saw repeated State Department notices that annual limits in certain employment-based immigrant categories had been reached, pausing issuance until the next fiscal year reset. For instance, the State Department flagged that EB-5 unreserved visas for FY2025 were fully used, limiting consular issuance until October 1, 2025.

 

Fees rise, waivers shrink

 

Visa processing also became more expensive and less flexible. A new visa integrity fee was introduced for most non-immigrant visas, adding roughly $250 per application. Interview waiver eligibility narrowed, pushing more applicants back into in-person appointments.

 

For Indians, this compounded already long wait times at US consulates, with many stamping slots pushed into 2026.

 

Asylum and humanitarian routes curtailed

 

Asylum rules tightened further in the final weeks of the year. A new regulation allows asylum to be denied on public-health grounds, reviving a tool used during earlier emergency periods.

 

Processing of immigration benefits for individuals from travel-ban countries slowed significantly, with pauses reported across asylum and adjustment-of-status cases.

 

India-specific takeaways from the 2025 shift

 

1. India avoided the travel-ban lists, but the system around Indians tightened through screening rather than nationality bars.

2. H-1B is moving away from a pure lottery, which changes who wins in a heavily Indian applicant pool.

3. H-1B and H-4 stamping in India became more brittle at year-end as online presence reviews expanded worldwide and companies warned staff about travel risks due to delays.

4. Student enforcement became a headline zone, with visa revocations rising sharply during the year.

5. Investor immigration was reshaped around the Gold Card, while diversity visa issuance was paused in December.

6. Green card holders saw tighter travel tracking through biometric entry and exit and expanded facial recognition infrastructure.