The Trump administration has reinstated thousands of international student visas that had previously been revoked, and has suspended the sudden termination process, following a major policy reversal announced on Friday.

During a court hearing in Washington, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced a significant shift in policy. According to Joseph F. Carilli, a lawyer from the Department of Justice, immigration officials have started working on a new system for reviewing and terminating international student visas. Until this process is finalized, no further terminations will occur.

This change came during legal proceedings involving eight consolidated lawsuits filed by students who claimed that the federal government had abruptly ended their legal residency in the U.S. without due process. The mass visa terminations had caused widespread fear and confusion among students, with over 1,500 affected, many of whom are reportedly Indian nationals.

The court has ordered the government to submit a legal explanation of the new policy by the end of Friday, and all plaintiffs have been granted 14-day temporary restraining orders, protecting them from deportation or any legal penalties in the meantime.

This reversal is also expected to benefit around 150 Nepali students whose SEVIS visas had been terminated.

One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Marc L. Van Der Hout, stated that the policy change is a direct response to the order of U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White, who presided over Friday’s hearing in Oakland, California.

So far in 2025, over 1,500 international students have had their SEVIS records terminated, and more than 70 lawsuits have been filed across 21 states challenging the legality of these actions.