In a controversial move that could impact thousands of international students, the Trump administration has directed U.S. consular missions worldwide to pause new student visa interviews. The decision comes as part of a broader plan to expand social media screening for all foreign students seeking to study in the United States.
Documents signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed consular offices to stop adding new appointment slots for F, M, and J visa categories — which cover academic and exchange visitors — until further guidance is issued. “Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity,” the directive stated. The move could severely affect student visa processing and disrupt admissions at many U.S. universities, which rely heavily on international students for financial stability.
Focus on Anti-Israel protesters and antisemitic activity
The administration has reportedly targeted students believed to have participated in protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza. In April, the federal government announced that it would vet visa applicants and immigrants for what it termed “antisemitic activity.” The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) confirmed that the policy will apply to foreign students, those seeking lawful permanent residence, and individuals affiliated with educational institutions linked to such activity. The Department of Homeland Security defended the screening expansion, stating it was crucial for “enhanced identity verification, vetting, and national security screening.” The policy is rooted in Trump’s executive order titled Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats. This follows a previous move in March to extend social media vetting to green card applicants already residing in the U.S.
“Great move 👏”
MAGA supporters hailed the decision. A user said, “President Trump just paused student visa interviews as he prepares to toughen the visa process. This is the peak season for student visas, and this means that many internationals and foreigners won’t be able to get visas by the time their classes start. This will hurt OPT mill universities and prevent foreigners from flooding the US labor market next year. Temporary relief for Americans! And if he manages to make the visa process tougher, hopefully we can reduce the number of H1Bs coming in permanently!.”
Another added, ” This will hurt everyone and not just degree millers. I certainly think that the job market shouldn’t be flooded with immigrants looking for jobs when there are ‘qualified’ Americans looking for jobs too. For some reason, not many citizens apply for positions for various reasons. Not too sexy, glamorous or intimidated by tech jargon used or simply lazy. Even those who apply, quite a number of people appear for the interview woefully under prepared or come across lazy without any serious recent work or just plain bad. The solution isn’t as simple as increasing/decreasing the tap of h1b supply. The bland under prepared guy working at a meh company isn’t going to get hired at Google or Meta just because these companies won’t hire H1bs anymore. These jobs are simply going to move overseas and will never come back.”
A user claimed, ” You nailed it. For the sake of diversity, I secretly hope some of my American candidates do well but the foreigners (white European included) are way better prepared in general and end up getting the jobs.”
” A surprising number of candidates just absolutely suck. But it has not been my experience that foreign candidates perform better. Maybe some of them are better at regurgitating memorized leetcode solutions. But if you’re judging candidates based on how well they’ve memorized leetcode, you’re probably not getting the best employees, regardless of their nationality,” noted a netizen.
“Student visa (F1) is the pipeline for work visa (H1B). Cutting off the head of the Hydra is a good idea,” another said. “Great move,” noted a user. “Thank you President Trump! Now do H1B! AMERICA FIRST,” noted a netizen.