As pupil visa backlogs proceed to plague US embassies world wide and the beginning of the autumn semester looms, a bipartisan group of 14 lawmakers have urged the US state division to resolve points with Indian pupil visas.
“As members of Congress who signify analysis universities, we’re involved by stories from our constituent universities about Indian college students who’ve been unable to acquire visas to proceed their schooling in the US,” they urged Rubio.
Indian college students, the biggest group of worldwide college students within the US, contribute $9 billion yearly to the US financial system, added the lawmakers, led by Democratic congresswoman Deborah Ross of North Carolina.
In a letter despatched to the State Division on July 24, the group mentioned they’d seen “first-hand” how the contributions of Indian college students to science and analysis “maintain our nation aggressive”.
“We’re dismayed on the risk that many of those vibrant younger people could also be blocked… from persevering with their schooling and analysis in the US,” they continued.
13 of the letter’s 14 signatories are member of the Democratic celebration, with Nebraska consultant Don Bacon the one Republican to affix the efforts.
With lessons beginning in simply over a month, 1000’s of scholars… are susceptible to lacking the beginning of the tutorial yr
The letter follows a close to four-week suspension of pupil visa appointments by the state division that started through the peak season for visa processing, inflicting continued backlogs that stay almost one month on from the lifting of the freeze.
Although backlogs are impacting college students throughout the globe, the congresspeople raised explicit issues about delays at Indian embassies, with the Indian mission web site nonetheless carrying a warning that the scheduling of visa appointments this summer season can’t be assured.
The Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs (MEA) is known to have taken the matter up with the US Embassy in New Delhi in addition to the US State Division, with information of the delays being extensively circulated by Indian media.
As beforehand reported by The PIE Information, some Indian schooling consultancies expect 80% declines in pupil ranges going to the US, reporting that college students are “refreshing their portal on a regular basis” seeking appointments.
The most important supply market to the US, visa issuance to Indian college students noticed a notable drop this Might, falling by 41% in comparison with the identical interval in 2025, with stakeholders fearing that June information will reveal a worsening image as the complete affect of the visa pause takes maintain.
Throughout the board, Might 2024 information confirmed a 22% year-on-year discount within the variety of F-1 visas issued. Alternate customer visas have been additionally down 13%.
Interesting to Rubio, the congresspeople emphasised the integral contributions of Indian college students to analysis universities within the US, in addition to the broader worth of academic trade: “very important to encouraging collaboration between our nations”.
Advocacy efforts are additionally stepping up within the sector, led by the US for Success Coalition, a nationwide alliance of greater than 50 organisations spanning enterprise, schooling and innovation.
“This delay and the ensuing backlogs couldn’t have come at a worse time,” mentioned Jill Welch, spokesperson for the coalition.
“With lessons beginning in simply over a month, 1000’s of scholars – notably from high-demand nations like India – are susceptible to lacking the beginning of the tutorial yr,” Welch mentioned.
The coalition highlighted the widespread penalties of the visa backlogs. If college students are barred from coming into the US, it might jeopardise the nation’s place because the main vacation spot for international expertise, with ripple results touching native economies and long-term implications for scientific analysis.
“After we shut doorways – deliberately or by bureaucratic delay – we ship a transparent message to the world: that the US might longer be the vacation spot of alternative for one of the best and brightest,” it mentioned. “That isn’t only a misplaced alternative; it’s a strategic danger”.
The alliance has known as on the State Division to right away “surge” sources to course of new and returning worldwide pupil visas and guarantee there may be interview capability in high-demand nations.
Referring to Rubio’s new guidelines round social media vetting, it known as on the division to prioritise each safety and effectivity, “in order that screening processes don’t grow to be obstacles to alternative”.
“For each three worldwide college students, one US job is created or sustained,” mentioned the coalition, citing their annual financial contribution of almost $44bn yearly.
What’s extra, “they’re ambassadors of democracy and American values creating allyship between the US and different nations,” they mentioned, highlighting the worth of people-to-people exchanges in guaranteeing the nation’s nationwide safety.
The more and more difficult visa coverage panorama is already having an affect on pupil curiosity, with younger individuals more and more turning to different locations, specifically the UK.
Sector leaders are calling for “fast motion” to forestall the worst damages whereas there may be nonetheless time earlier than the complete extent of declines grow to be clear in September.
