The recent freeze in student visa interview appointments continues to complicate the uncertainty surrounding international student prospects in the USA.
On May 27, 2025, the US State Department ordered US consulates around the globe to halt new visa appointments for student applicants.
The directive expands that the freeze is in preparation for the extension of social media screening and vetting of international student applicants for the F, M, or J visa categories.
While screening has largely focused on students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests, the directive, obtained by Politico, indicates that this extra layer of scrutiny is intended to apply to all future student visa applications. International students overall have been subject to increased social media vetting as part of the visa eligibility process as part of the Trump administration’s moves to combat antisemitism and foreign threats to US national security.
The timing of the freeze threatens to impact incoming international students for the summer and fall intakes of 2025. Commentators point out that this timing is especially unfortunate as the freeze coincides with the peak time for visa interviews, with the fall session being the largest and most popular of US intakes for international students.
Experts in the global education space are expressing concern about the long-term consequences of the Trump administration’s restrictive moves targeting international students on the USA’s position as one of the Big 4 destinations for higher education. Talented international students are likely to be driven away from the USA towards other destinations like the UK and Australia due to uncertainty around US immigration policies.
Nonetheless, there is pushback from universities and organizations such as NAFSA, urging the administration to “uphold a policy environment that reflects the [USA’s] national interest”. CEO and executive director of NAFSA, Fanta Aw, added that international students “already represent the most tracked and vetted category of nonimmigrants” in the USA – an inefficient use of taxpayer dollars, especially considering the same scrutiny is not being applied to business and tourist visas.
Alongside the question of uniform scrutiny and screening, Aw also points out the lack of urgent justification for disrupting the immigration process while enacting policy updates, resulting in delays, uncertainty, and blows to the USA’s reputation as a higher education destination.
As the situation continues to develop, the USA is expected to see a depression in popularity as a global education destination in the short term.
