US student visas for Indians drop 62%; CIS report urges scrapping of OPT programme

The number of US student visas issued to Indian nationals has fallen by 62% in 2025, according to a new report that also recommends scrapping the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme.The report, authored by George Fishman, Senior Legal Fellow at the Centre for Immigration Studies (CIS), said the US issued 22,149 student visas to Indian nationals in 2025, down sharply from 58,694 issued a year earlier, PTI reported.Despite the decline in new visas, Indian students continued to form the largest group of international students in the US. Data from the Institute of International Education (IIE) showed that 363,019 Indian students were enrolled in US higher education institutions during the 2024-25 academic year, ahead of 265,919 students from China. Together, the two countries accounted for 53% of the 1,177,766 international students studying at the post-secondary levelIndian students dominate OPT programmeThe report found that 294,253 international graduates were working in the US under the OPT programme during the 2024-25 academic year. Indian nationals made up the largest share, with 143,740 participants, or 49% of the total. Chinese graduates accounted for 61,981 participant...