India says issuing visas is U.S. prerogative, hopes Indian students will be considered on merit

U.S. missions in India and around the world have temporarily paused scheduling new visa appointments as they await instructions from the U.S. State department on how to enhance their screening of applicants’ social media profiles.  | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Issuing visas is a sovereign issue for the U.S. government, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday (May 29, 2025), but added that the government hopes that the process will be completed in time for Indian students to join the U.S. universities they have gained admission to this year.

This comes amidst reports that the U.S. missions in India and around the world have temporarily paused scheduling new visa appointments as they await instructions from the U.S. State department on how to enhance their screening of applicants’ social media profiles.

‘Sovereign function’

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the welfare of students was of “utmost priority”.

“We have seen reports suggesting the U.S. government updated guidance regarding Student and Exchange Visitor visa applicants,” Mr. Jaiswal said at a weekly media briefing. “While we note that issuance of visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit and they will be able to join their academic programmes on time,” he added.

Mr. Jaiswal also pointed out that more than 3,30,000 Indian students were studying in the U.S., as of 2023-24. Indians made up nearly 30% of the roughly 1.1 million international students in the U.S. that year, the biggest bloc from any country. 

Foreign Secretary meetings

The controversy over the student visas, the latest hiccup to hit India-U.S. relations, came even as Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri ended his three-day visit to Washington. The MEA spokesperson did not confirm whether the pause in visas, or the Trump administration’s latest repetition of claims that the U.S. mediated the India-Pakistan ceasefire using trade as leverage, were issues raised during Mr. Misri’s meetings, particularly his talks with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau.

“[Mr. Landau and Mr. Misri] agreed that technology, trade, and talent will shape the India-U.S. partnership in the 21st century,” Mr. Jaiswal said, adding that they committed to strengthening the comprehensive global strategic partnership between the two countries. “So whether this particular issue was raised [or not], I would say that all issues of mutual interest was discussed between India and the United States. 

Mr. Jaiswal said that Mr. Misri had also discussed defence and energy cooperation, as well as efforts to strengthen the Quad, IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor), and I2U2 (Israel-India-UAE-U.S.) initiatives. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is due to travel to Washington at the end of June for a meeting of Quad Foreign Ministers, and India is expected to host the Quad summit in November.

Published - May 29, 2025 09:36 pm IST