According to Oxford International’s third Student Global Mobility Index, as many as 81% of Indian students who plan to study abroad said they expect to return to India after finishing their courses. At the same time, tighter US immigration rules are making the traditional path from an American university to a job and long-term stay much harder.
For years, the plan for many Indian students was fairly simple. Go to the US, complete a degree, use Optional Practical Training (OPT) to work for a year or two, and then try to get an H-1B visa and build a career there.
That plan is now changing. The finding comes at a time when the US has introduced some of its toughest restrictions on international students and skilled workers in decades.
Most Indian students say they plan to return
According to the third edition of the Student Global Mobility Index (SGMI), published by Oxford International, four out of five Indian students who want to study abroad plan to return to India after completing their education.
The survey is based on 17,925 core responses, along with around 2,400 additional responses covering areas such as course choices, family background and plans after graduation.
The report shows that many Indian students now see studying abroad as a way to gain global exposure, skills and a foreign degree, rather than a permanent move overseas. Around 15% said they plan to look for a job after graduation, though it is unclear whether they mean in India or abroad. More students are also making the decision on their own, with self-motivated applications rising from 29% in 2023-24 to 49% in 2025-26.
While these findings are global, they come at a time when the US, one of the top destinations for Indian students, is tightening its immigration and student visa rules, making the traditional path to studying, working and settling there increasingly uncertain.
The US has been making the route much harder
US has spent the past 18 months tightening rules for international students and skilled workers. Since President Donald Trump‘s second term began in January 2025, his administration has introduced a series of measures affecting international students. Indian students have been particularly exposed because India is the largest single nationality among international students in the US.
SEVIS records were terminated in large numbers
In March 2025, thousands of international students suddenly saw their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, terminated. In many cases, students were given vague or unclear reasons. Some documented cases involved minor traffic violations or past political activity.
By January 2025, the State Department said it had revoked more than 8,000 student visas. Separate tracking later put the 2025 figure at around 4,700 to 4,736 terminated SEVIS records and at least 6,000 revoked F, M and J visas.
The move led to more than 100 lawsuits. A federal judge in Northern California later issued a nationwide injunction ordering many of the records to be restored.
Student visa interviews were suddenly paused
On May 27, 2025, the State Department stopped scheduling new visa interviews for F, M and J applicants around the world. The timing was particularly important because May to August is normally the busiest period for student visa applications.
The government initially presented the pause as a short-term measure. Instead, it lasted for about three weeks. For students preparing to begin a new academic year, the delay created more uncertainty around whether they would be able to reach the US in time.
Social media checks became mandatory
Another major change came on June 18, 2025. F, M and J visa applicants were told to make their social media accounts public so that US consular officers could review them.
Officials were instructed to look for “potentially derogatory” material. This could include political activism, alleged links to terrorism or views seen as hostile towards the US. Students who refused to cooperate could have their applications rejected as “evasive.”
Travel bans were expanded
The US also expanded travel restrictions. An executive order issued on June 4, 2025, blocked visa issuance to nationals of roughly 12 to 19 countries, including Iran, Libya, Somalia and Afghanistan.
A second proclamation issued in December 2025 expanded the restrictions to 39 countries as well as the Palestinian territories. It came into effect on January 1, 2026.
The move also brought a “Hold and Review” policy, which froze some pending USCIS applications, including OPT and STEM OPT applications, for people from the affected countries.
The H-1B route became much more expensive
In September 2025, the White House introduced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B petitions filed from outside the US. Twenty states later challenged the move in federal court.
USCIS partly changed the policy in late October 2025 for people who were already inside the US immigration system
But at the same time, another restriction was introduced for international students.
A new cap limited foreign students to 15% of a university’s total student population. No single country could account for more than 5%.
Because Indian students make up such a large part of the international student population in the US, the new limits could make it harder for them to enter the system in the first place.
The US created a new central vetting system
On December 5, 2025, USCIS launched a new Vetting Centre. The centre brought together checks involving visas, school records and border information.
The system gives the government a more centralised and automated way of monitoring international students.
For students, that also means a routine review could potentially turn into a much more serious immigration problem.
Students now face a four-year limit
In July 2026, the Department of Homeland Security finalised another major change.
It ended the decades-old “duration of status” system, which had allowed international students to remain in the US for as long as their academic programme continued.
Under the new rules, students will generally be limited to four years unless they receive a formal extension.
The rules also bring new restrictions around changing majors and transferring between institutions. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the rule would ensure students “remain focused on their primary purpose: completing their studies and returning home.”
SEVIS terminations continued into 2026
The crackdown did not end in 2025.
A second wave of SEVIS terminations took place in March 2026 under what the administration called a “one-strike” policy.
Once a SEVIS record is terminated, a student’s legal status can end immediately. That can create problems with OPT, transferring to another university and returning to the US. Students typically have only a 60-day grace period to try to resolve the problem.
Even OPT is facing uncertainty
OPT has also come under pressure. The programme allows international students to work in the US for 12 months after graduation. STEM students can generally receive an additional 24 months.
For many Indian students, OPT has been an important bridge between an F-1 student visa and an H-1B work visa.
But during this period, US officials have repeatedly discussed eliminating or restricting OPT as part of a broader effort to reduce legal immigration pathways. A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress to protect OPT by law.
However, the future of the bill and of the programme itself remains uncertain.
The numbers show the impact
The impact of the US immigration changes is already visible in student visa numbers. F-1 visas issued to Indian students fell 69% in June and July 2025, with 12,776 visas issued compared with 41,336 a year earlier. Overall approvals for Indian students during the 2025 peak season fell 62% year-on-year, while US international student enrolment is estimated to have dropped around 20% in 2026. With about 372,000 Indian students currently studying in the US, the tighter rules are likely to affect Indian students more heavily.