Visa approvals plunged in 2025
U.S. resident and temporary visa approvals fell by about 250,000 in 2025 — an 11% decline overall — with the steepest drops in work and student visas from India, China and the Philippines. (newsweek.com)
On May 27, 2025 the State Department circulated a diplomatic cable from Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordering U.S. embassies and consulates to pause scheduling new F‑1, M‑1 and J‑1 visa interviews while expanded social‑media screening procedures were implemented. (politico.com) Federal monthly issuance data show a sharp month‑over‑month hit in May 2025: the State Department issued roughly 12,689 fewer F‑1 student visas and about 7,000 fewer J‑1 visas compared with May 2024. (insidehighered.com) Quarter‑to‑date SEVIS/visa tallies for the first half of 2025 put F‑1 issuances around 89,000, with country breakdowns showing Indian F‑1 issuances down about 44% (to ~14,700) and Chinese F‑1 issuances down about 24% (to ~11,000) versus the prior year. (visaverge.com) USCIS data for the FY2025 H‑1B cap season show the agency selected 114,017 beneficiaries (120,603 selected registrations) in the initial registration rounds, even as reporting and media analyses flagged a drop in H‑1B petition approvals in FY2025 compared with earlier years. (uscis.gov) Sector estimates quantify the fallout for higher education and local economies: NAFSA’s Fall‑2025 snapshot translated enrollment and visa declines into an estimated $1.1 billion in lost revenue and nearly 23,000 fewer jobs for the 2024/25 academic year. (nafsa.org) The State Department cautions that monthly nonimmigrant visa issuance figures are preliminary and subject to revision, and its Report of the Visa Office notes methodological changes introduced beginning with FY2019 that affect year‑to‑year comparisons. (travel.state.gov)
