Indian diaspora advocacy group urges US Congress, USCIS to halt visa restrictions for students, exchange visitors

Indian diaspora advocacy group urges US Congress, USCIS to halt visa restrictions for students, exchange visitors

The FIIDS said new international student enrolments already fell 17 per cent in Fall 2025, the steepest drop since the pandemic

An Indian diaspora advocacy group on Monday urged US Congress and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to halt the implementation of the new four-year cap on visa restrictions for students and exchange visitors.

"This is a self-inflicted wound on US competitiveness," said Khanderao Kand, chief of Policy and Strategy at the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS).

The statement comes days after the US tightened the rules governing visas for foreign students, exchange visitors and journalists, ending the old regime that allowed them to stay in the country indefinitely without government oversight.

"A four-year cap misaligns with how modern degrees actually work median time to a bachelor's is about 52 months and to a PhD about 5.7 years while USCIS is already sitting on more than 11 million cases with roughly yearlong processing times. Students will be forced out mid-programme or mid-research, labs will lose critical talent, and America will hand its innovation pipeline to competitors," Kand said.

The FIIDS urged the administration to delay implementation, protect students, and safeguard US research and innovation.

"If the goal is integrity, do it without blowing up degree pathways that power American labs and startups," Kand said.

Total international enrolment is near 1.2 million, contributing roughly USD 55 billion annually to the US economy.

The National Association of Foreign Student Affairs estimates the 17 per cent decline in new enrolment alone translates to over USD 1.1 billion in lost revenue and nearly 23,000 fewer jobs.

The FIIDS urged the US Congress to introduce and support legislation to restore the duration of stay for F-1 and J-1 visa or create statutory exemptions for graduate STEM programs with median completion times more than 48 months, limiting to 64months with auto extension.

It also urged Congress and the USCIS to exclude OPT/STEM OPT from the year count and reinstate the 60-day grace period.

The FIIDS also urged the USCIS to issue administrative relief before the mid-September effective date, including automatic extensions for students in good standing in programs with NCES reported medians more than 48 months.