US F-1 visas issued to Indian, Chinese students declined dramatically in 2025, reveals new report
According to the CIS study, students from India and the People's Republic of China (PRC) accounted for more than half of all international students enrolled at US post-secondary institutions during the 2024-25 academic year.
A new report by the Centre for Immigration Studies reveals a sharp decline in the number of US F-1 student visas issued to Indian and Chinese nationals in 2025. The CIS reported a 60 percent drop in F-1 visas issued to Indians, with only 22,149 visas granted compared to an average of 55,717 between 2017-19 and 2021-24. The number of visas for Chinese nationals fell by 46 percent, with 40,034 visas issued in 2025, down from an average of 73,853 during the same period.
The report highlighted that Indian and Chinese students accounted for over 50 percent of all international students enrolled at US post-secondary institutions in the 2024-25 academic year. However, the F-1 visa issuance from May to August 2025 saw a significant decline compared to previous years, with the May-August period typically seeing the highest number of student visas issued ahead of the academic year.
The report raised concerns about the OPT programme and its impact on the US labour market, noting that foreign students under OPT accounted for nearly 70 percent of all OPT participants in 2024, with Indian and Chinese nationals making up nearly 70 percent of these participants.
Written by urgent.news from Live Mint's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
