The U.S. State Department has announced that it is working to regularize the temporarily suspended process for student visas to the United States. However, no specific date has been given for when the process will resume, leading to growing uncertainty among international students.

On 18 June, the US State Department sent a cable to all US diplomatic posts abroad instructing them to resume scheduling of interviews for F, M, and J visa applicants (that is, for applicants for student visas). The statement brings to an end a pause in visa processing that had stretched into its fourth week, and that dated back to 27 May.

The suspension of processing had been an issue of growing concern as the key processing period for student visas for the United States is May to August. In 2024, for example, seven out of ten student visas issued by the US were granted in that four-month period.

Along with a resumption of processing, the State Department cable advises visa officers to screen the social media and online footprint of all student visa applicants for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States.” Officers are also advised to be alert for any “advocacy for, aid or support for foreign terrorists and other threats to US national security,…support for unlawful antisemitic harassment or violence,” and to flag “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism” and to consider “the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.”

The system will now be challenged to make up the processing backlog that has accumulated for students hoping to begin their studies in the United States in the coming academic year. The cable seems to anticipate this but also acknowledge the additional demands on processing officers from the enhaced screening measures: “Posts should resume regular scheduling of FMJ visa applications once these [new processes for enhanced screening] are implemented. However, posts should consider overall scheduling volume and the resource demands of appropriate vetting; posts might need to schedule fewer FMJ cases than they did previously.”

In fact, it appears that the screening is meant to extend beyond social media to any type of online presence, including publications and inclusion in online databases. Applicants are instructed to set all social media account settings to “public” to support the additional screening. And officers are required to retain screenshots of any concerning material to preserve those records. The cable sets out as well that this enhanced screening will now apply to both new and returning visa applicants.

If the applicant screening turns up any such issues, the applicant is not necessarily ineligible for a US visa. But the processing officer is invited to consider whether the applicant is likely to observe US laws and to “engage only in activities consistent with his nonimmigrant visa status.”

This policy shift has already started affecting Nepal, according to the Educational Consultancy Association of Nepal (ECAN). Former ECAN president Bishnu Hari Pandey said that many students are cancelling their plans to study in the U.S. and are instead exploring alternative destinations. “This could also create opportunities for Nepali universities and colleges,” he noted.

According to Pandey, the number of Nepali students applying for U.S. visas had already been declining even before the new directive. “Interest in studying in the U.S. has now dropped to nearly zero,” he said. “Ever since Trump came to power, students have become hesitant. Now the embassy isn’t even issuing interview dates.”

Many Nepali students go to the U.S. to study information technology, engineering, and research-oriented subjects. According to the Ministry of Education, around 8,000 students obtained No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to study in the U.S. during the current fiscal year. The figure was 12,000 in the previous year.

The Ministry also stated that the U.S. remains one of the top five preferred destinations for Nepali students, alongside Japan, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, the latest directives from the Trump administration have not only tightened rules for foreign nationals in general but have also made it more difficult for student visa applicants.