Trump administration halts new student visa interviews, causing anxiety among Indian aspirants

Economic Times

6 days ago

The Donald Trump administration's latest diktat to halt new student visa interviews is exacerbating already-elevated anxiety levels among Indian aspirants. The US President is increasingly being seen as hostile towards international students. While visa appointments will be honoured for students whose dates are fixed, those who are still to book slots are clueless about how long the wait will prevail. Working professionals—many of them B-school candidates—who had quit jobs in India ahead of their planned US move in August, are under even greater stress. Overseas studies consultants said while some clarity is expected in the coming weeks, those keen to study in the US can, for now, only wait while staying in regular touch with institutes. Trump has locked horns with some top institutes, including Harvard, accusing some of enabling anti-semitism on campus.
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A US embassy spokesperson in India on Wednesday said aspirants may continue to submit applications but embassies would adjudicate cases in full compliance with law, including to ensure applicants do not pose a security or safety risk. 'No on e is sure for how long the pause is on, but various stakeholders at NAFSA have been saying it can take around two weeks before clarification comes,' said Piyush Kumar, regional director for South Asia, Canada and Latin America at education consultancy IDP.
NAFSA, an association of international educators, is currently holding the world's largest trade fair for higher education in San Diego, US.IDP, one of the top companies in the business, has seen a 20% drop in US applications so far this year, with sentiment worsening in the past four five months. 'Hopefully, new visa slots will open. I'm advising students not to panic because there's still twoand-a-half months before they need to head out,' said Kumar. Of IDP's students, 75% have a visa slot but the rest could be held up following the new order. Meanwhile, many are firming up Plan B — exploring other destinations for higher studies, especially in Europe. Prashant Tibrewal, founder of Alum-n-i, said a client has applied to a leading French university and is fairly convinced of heading there, despite securing admission to one of the top 10 US universities.Another client, an MIT MBA admit, plans to spend the coming year at her data science firm, treating it as a chance to deepen her work experience.Students who applied in the early application rounds have been able to secure their visa and are all set to fly, but a few remain in limbo. Additionally, not everyone has a back-up plan. Tibrewal said a Harvard-bound Masters candidate- —who worked with his company this year—had quit his job, but is now unsure if he can even look for other roles while he waits.Treading cautiously Consultants are also actively advising students to audit social media profiles and remove or make private any content that could be misinterpreted.'US consular officers are being instructed to apply heightened scrutiny to online behaviour, which could include posts or even likes that appear hostile to the US, or supportive of extremist ideologies — even if posted by others. We're encouraging students to err on the side of caution and seek professional guidance if unsure,' said Kunal Mehra, chief executive at Crimson Education India.'In many cases, we're also directing them to legal resources, so they fully understand the implications. Awareness and proactive caution are the best defences in this climate of increased digital scrutiny,' he added.'This is showing up in social media forums, where there's been a marked decline in people saying anything negative about the US,' noted Karan Gupta, founder of the eponymous career consultancy. 'Many who were heading to the US this fall don't want to derail plans if possible. But those who have admissions in other countries are keeping those alive. They will switch over later if things don't improve.'Students need to be careful, stressed Sukanya Raman, country head for India at global immigration-focused law firm Davies & Associates llc. 'This administrative action is part of broader efforts of scrutiny on students who want to enter the US.'Raman added that there could be a possibility that American universities would join hands and push back against Trump's directive. 'Otherwise, this could impact the US as a whole—the fees that international students bring in—the talent that adds so much value to US companies and the economy,' she said. Since coming to power, the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars in funding for US universities and ramped up deportations and student visa revocations. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said recently the number of visas he has revoked was probably in thousands.
However, many of these actions are facing legal hurdles. Harvard University, which sued the government after it revoked Harvard's ability to enrol international students, had a federal judge blocking the move with a temporary restraining order. However, Trump has continued with action against the Ivy league institution, most recently moving to cut $100 million in federal contracts.