Patralekha Chatterjee | US Visa Curbs Rework India Students’ Global Ambitions

Suspended visa interviews, intense social media scrutiny and the looming threat of deportation for minor missteps under the Trump administration have turned the F-1 student visa from a gateway to a precarious gamble.

Indian students with global ambitions, however, remain undeterred. They are setting sail in new directions.

The rise in interest in the US EB-5 programme is one such direction. There have been numerous reports in the Indian media about an uptick in the EB-5 route. A steep path, it demands a minimum $800,000 investment in a US business, promising permanent residency if the investor can create or preserve 10 full-time jobs. But this is no golden ticket. As US-based professor Gaurav Sabnis points out: “EB-5 cannot be a ‘hedge’ for F-1 visa holders”.

In a recent post on microblogging platform X, Prof. Sabnis pointed out that only 700 EB-5 visas can be given to Indians in any given year. So, there are bound to be backlogs. “Even if there were no backlog, how many desis on a F-1 (student visa) have several million dollars’ worth of white money,” he quipped. “You need a solid business plan for EB-5, including details on investors and where your money came from. You need to prove that your funds are legitimate, pass background checks, and invest in designated high-need areas. And even then, with only about 700 visas issued annually, it is a long shot. It is not like they must give out 700 of those visas a year to Indians. They can give zero if the bureaucrats do not like the business plan. It is not easy creating 10 jobs,” he noted.

An EB-5 investor must invest the required amount of capital in a new commercial enterprise that will create full-time positions for at least 10 qualifying employees, according to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which comes under the US department of homeland security that administers the country's naturalisation and immigration system. A qualifying employee is a US citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other immigrant authorised to work in the United States, notes USCIS.

Faced with rising rejections and unpredictability, Indian students are rewriting the rules of global ambition. Increasingly, they are looking east towards other countries in Asia, as well as Europe. Many students are looking towards Japan, South Korea and Singapore, as well as Germany, France, Ireland and Netherlands over traditionally favoured study destinations like the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, according to many education consultants. The UK continues to be an attractive academic destination. However, recent immigration policy changes have made it more restrictive. The University of Tokyo, National University of Singapore and top Hong Kong institutions are seeing a steady stream of Indian applications.

These institutions offer top-tier education -- often in English --at a fraction of the cost of US or European universities. Their programmes are globally ranked, their campuses modern, their outcomes competitive.

A senior Indian executive, speaking about his son’s academic preferences, shared a telling shift. “He is seriously considering Tokyo or Singapore over lower-tier US colleges. Their reputation, affordability, and career outcomes are simply more compelling.”

These preferences are further shaped by India’s domestic education bottlenecks. Despite achieving 99 per cent in board exams, students are often unable to secure seats in top Indian colleges. The pressure of hyper-competitive entrance exams, especially for non-STEM fields, pushes families to explore alternatives that align better with student interests and economic prudence.

What emerges from this transition is the evolution of a new archetype: the global Indian student -- ambitious, mobile, and resilient.

As the US tightens its gates, Indian students are proving a powerful truth: talent goes where it is welcomed. And where it is nurtured, it thrives. For many young Indians, while the emotional cost of the American dream’s decline is real, so too is the opportunity embedded in its redefinition.

India’s policymakers must recognise the long-term strategic implications of this mobility. Students trained abroad are not only knowledge recipients; they are influence carriers. To contextualise India’s moment, it is useful to examine the Chinese student response to global education shifts. With massive state-backed investment, China’s top two universities, Tsinghua and Peking, have edged closer to the global top ten. China now produces the highest number of PhDs globally, surpassing the US and boasts an increasingly competitive domestic academic ecosystem. China has overtaken the US as the world leader in both scientific research output and “high impact” studies, according to a report published by Japan’s science and technology ministry, London’s Guardian reported in August 2022.

This shift owes a lot to China’s national strategy focused on education, research funding and talent development. Chinese students with global ambitions are looking for alternative destinations, but staying home does not mean foregoing global success.

Most education consultants in India advise factoring in the domestic option. India has some excellent schools, colleges and universities but it needs to do a lot more if it wishes to retain and attract talent. India is the world’s fourth largest economy but continues to grapple with the challenge of ensuring quality learning outcomes despite achieving near-universal enrolment at the primary level, as a recent Unesco report has revealed India’s global ambitions are hampered by structural weaknesses. The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2025 reveal that four Indian universities have secured spots, but all experienced a decline in their rankings compared to last year. The Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, which previously ranked between 101 and 125 in 2023, has fallen to the 201-300 band, alongside IIT Delhi and IIT Madras, both of which also dropped from higher bands.

India’s policymakers must respond with urgency. This means more public investment in the education sector and research, more bilateral educational agreements, better visa support mechanisms, alongside strengthening the global visibility of Indian institutions. Equally necessary are fostering cross-cultural competencies, digital skills and entrepreneurial mindsets among students preparing for an interdependent world.

For Indian students and their families, the message is clear: define success on your own terms. Do not cling to old scripts. The map of hope and opportunity is being redrawn -- and you could be holding the pen.