Studying in America: F-1 student visa denials increased significantly during this period

Recent research from The Presidents’ Alliance and Shorelight sheds light on the commonly documented trend of students from the Global South being denied visas to study in the United States at disproportionately greater rates than students from the rest of the globe.

The Interview of a Lifetime: An Analysis of Visa Denials and International Student Flows to the U.S. paper examines visa adjudication trends over an eight-year period between 2015 and 2022, a period that covers three presidential administrations, in an effort to assist evidence-based decisions.

“There is much hand-wringing about why the U.S. is not attracting more international students and yet–as our new and first-ever analysis shows–there is a global talent that is eager and poised to study and succeed in the U.S., yet is turned away,” said Rajika Bhandari, Senior Advisor at the Presidents’ Alliance.

“International students today overcome many hurdles to study in the U.S., but a visa represents the ultimate barrier to entry that can thwart the dreams and potential of these students while also shortchanging U.S. institutions, the workforce, and our economy. Everybody loses when a well-qualified student is denied a visa.”

The report’s findings show that during the previous eight years, the number of F-1 student visa denials has increased dramatically. With the exception of South Africa, increased rates of F-1 visa denials in 2015 were mostly concentrated in South Asia, Africa, and some regions of the Middle East. The majority of the world had F-1 visa denials by 2022, with the exception of Australia, China, Brazil, South Africa, and several European nations. Africa continued to have the highest rate of visa denials throughout this eight-year period, from 2015 to 2022.

“This report makes it abundantly clear that the high rate of visa denials in Africa and the Global South is contributing to a loss of share of international students to global competitors,” said Shelley Landry, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Shorelight. “As demand for studying abroad grows worldwide, especially in these regions, the US must improve its visa policies to attract talented international students and enrich our classrooms, communities, and the economy.”