Page 3 - Us Visas

As Trump cracks down on student visas, other countries see opportunity

In China, wait times for US visa interviews are so long that some students have given up. Universities in Hong Kong are fielding transfer inquiries from foreign students in the US, and international applications for British undergraduate programs have surged. President Donald Trump's administration has been pressuring US colleges to reduce their dependence on international enrolment while adding new layers of scrutiny for foreign students as part of its crackdown on immigration. The US government has sought to deport foreign students for participating in pro-Palestinian activism. In the spring, it abruptly revoked the legal status of thousands of international students, including some whose only brush with law enforcement was a traffic ticket. After reversing course, the government paused new appointments for student visas while rolling out a process for screening applicants' social media accounts. The US remains the first choice for many international students, but institutions ...

Indian students face US visa appointment issues: Govt to Parliament

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has received several representations from Indian students and their families, flagging difficulty in obtaining US student visa appointments after American authorities announced an expanded screening and vetting for visa applicants, the government said on Thursday. In a written response to a query in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh also said the MEA took up the matter with the US embassy in New Delhi as well as the US Department of State. The ministry was asked whether the government is aware of US student visa issues being faced by prospective Indian students. "On 18 June 2025, US Department of State (DOS) issued a press release titled 'Announcement of Expanded Screening and Vetting for Visa Applicants'. In the said press release, DOS stated that it uses all available information in its visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those w

Visa application must be assessed on merit: MEA on US social media scrutiny

The statement comes hours after the US Embassy in India said that the visa applicants are required to list all social media usernames or handles in visa applications

US exempts Afghan SIV holders from travel ban, reaffirms visa support

The exemption has brought relief to thousands of Afghans awaiting relocation under the programme

Tighter H-1B rules, tech layoffs push Indians to alternative US visas

As H-1B scrutiny tightens and tech layoffs rise, Indian professionals are turning to alternative US visas like L-1, O-1 and EB-5 for stability and long-term stay

Chad announces suspension of US visas in response to Trump's travel ban

Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby on Thursday announced that his country will suspend the issuance of visas to U.S. citizens in response to the Trump administration's decision to ban Chadians from visiting the US. President Donald Trump on Wednesday resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term when he announced the visa ban on 12 countries including Chad, accusing them of having deficient screening and vetting, and historically refusing to take back their own citizens who overstay in the United States. The new ban targets Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. There will also be heightened restrictions on visitors from seven others in the new travel policy which takes effect Monday at 12:01 a.m. In a Facebook post, Chad's president said he is directing his government to suspend visas to U.S. citizens in accordance with the principles of reciprocity. Chad has no planes to offer, no billions

US to revoke visas of many Chinese students enrolled in 'critical fields'

The announcement added to the uncertainty for international students aiming to study in the US, who have faced intense scrutiny from the Trump administration

Trump's $5 million 'Gold Card' visa opens for registeration this week

This initiative is designed to replace the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which required a lower investment threshold and had specific job creation mandates .

US imposes visa bans on Indian travel agents over illegal migration links

The move comes amid President Donald Trump's broad crackdown on migration to the United States and efforts to deport undocumented immigrants in the country

Indians hit as US revokes 4,736 SEVIS records, over 300 student visas

Out of the 327 reports of visa revocation and SEVIS termination gathered by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, 50% are Indians

50% of students who faced visa revocation were Indians: US lawyers' body

Students' visa revocations seem random and unclear, triggering fear, pointed out Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh, urging the External Affairs Minister to take up the issue with his US counterpart

International students challenge widespread US visa revocations in court

Several international students who have had their visas revoked in recent weeks have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the US. The actions by the federal government to terminate students' legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation. Their schools range from private universities like Harvard and Stanford to large public institutions like the University of Maryland and Ohio State University to some small liberal arts colleges. In lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, students have argued the government lacked justification to cancel their visa or terminate their legal status. Why is the government canceling international students' visas? Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but colleges say some students are being singled out over infractions as minor as traffic violations, including some long in the past. In

US revoking all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders, says Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that the United States was revoking all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders, accusing the African nation's government of "taking advantage of the United States". "Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them," Rubio said in a statement, adding that "South Sudan's transitional government has failed to fully respect this principle". Besides revoking visas, Rubio said the US would "prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders". South Sudan's political landscape is fragile and recent violence between government troops and armed opposition groups has escalated tensions. Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling over the abyss into another civil war. Guterres warned that the world's newe

Trump sees 'thirst' for his 'gold card' visa with $5 mn for US citizenship

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he plans to start selling a gold card visa with a potential pathway to US citizenship for USD 5 million, seeking to have that new initiative replace a 35-year-old visa programme for investors. If we sell a million, that's USD 5 trillion dollars, Trump said during the first meeting of his second-term Cabinet, suggesting that the new revenue generated for federal coffers could be used to pay off the country's debt. I think we will sell a lot because I think there's really a thirst, Trump said of demand from the business community to participate. The president said of recipients that they'll be wealthy and they'll be successful and they'll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it's going to be extremely successful. Companies can buy gold cards and, in exchange, get those visas to hire new employees, Trump said. No other country can do this because people don't want to go to other ...

Indian consulate again denies visa to US's Kshama Sawant - Know who she is?

A long-time advocate for workers' rights and social justice, Sawant has been an outspoken critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration

USCIS announces H-1B initial registration period to begin on March 7

The initial registration period for the H-1B visas, the most sought-after by Indian IT professionals, for fiscal 2026 will commence on March 7 and close on March 24, a federal agency has said. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. The initial registration period for the most sought-after H-1B visas for foreign guest workers for fiscal 2026 will open at noon Eastern Time (10:30 pm IST) on March 7 and run through noon Eastern Time (10:30 pm IST) on March 24, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said on Wednesday. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives must use a USCIS online account to register each beneficiary electronically for the selection process and pay the associated registration fee for each ...

India leads in US student visa overstays: 7000 exceeded visa limits in 2023

India saw the highest number of US student visa overstays in 2023, with 7,000 Indian nationals exceeding their visa limits.

Visa appointments cancelled in Colombia after spat over deportation flights

Visa appointments at the US Embassy in Colombia were cancelled Monday following a dispute over deportation flights from the US that nearly turned into a costly trade war between the two countries. Dozens of Colombians showed up outside the US Embassy in Bogota and were handed letters by local staff that said their appointments had been cancelled due to the Colombian government's refusal to accept repatriation flights of Colombian nationals. Others with visa appointments for Monday received similar email messages. Obtaining an appointment can take up to two years. Tensions between Colombia and the United States escalated Sunday after President Gustavo Petro wrote an early morning message on X saying he would not allow two US air force planes carrying Colombian deportees to land in the country. He had previously authorized the flights. Petro also shared a video that showed another group of deportees reportedly arriving in Brazil with shackles on their legs. He said Colombia would onl

H-2B visas: Cap reached for additional visas for first half of FY 2025

Indian nationals remain excluded from eligibility for the H-2B visa, as per the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) updated list of eligible countries

Afghans arrive in Philippines to process visas for resettlement in US

A group of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the United States, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington. The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US immigrant visa processing centre for a limited number of Afghan nationals aspiring to resettle in America. Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said the Afghan nationals who landed in the Philippines on Monday were provided entry visas. She said they had completed extensive security vetting and undergone full medical screenings prior to their arrival. The US government will cover the costs for the Afghan nationals' stay in the Philippines, including their food, housing, security, medical and transportation expenses, she said. She didn't specify how many Afghans arrived or how long the visa processing will take. Under the Philippines' rules, visa applicants can stay for no longer than 59 days. A senior Philippi