USA Resumed Back Visa Processing and Appointment Scheduling for Students After Lifting Temporary Halt

The US StateDepartment halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for applicants forstudent visas on last May 27, 2025. It was initially stated that it is ameasure that would end in a few days, however, it lasted for a good span of 3 weeks,that too in the months where visa application processing is at its heaviest,May to August. At the same time, new policy was announced to impose a completetravel ban on international students and travelers from 12 countries and apartial ban on 7 more countries. Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of theCongo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, andYemen are the 12 nations that are prohibited in total. Burundi, Cuba, Laos,Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela are the seven nations that arepartly prohibited. The F, M, and J visas for students are prohibited in bothcategories. While this ban on countries remains, the visa processing for theUSA has now resumed as of June 18, 2025.

The US State Department instructed all US diplomats overseas in a cable sent on June 18,2025 to resume back to interview scheduling for applicants for F, M, and J Visas (i.e., student visas). The announcement ends a halt in the processing of visas that began on May 27, 2025 and continued into its fourth week. For students who intend to start taking classes in the US in the upcoming academic year, the system will now have to overcome the backlog of processing that has accumulated.

The State Department cable instructs visa officers to resume processing and to review all student visa applicants' social media profiles and online activity for any indications of opposition towards the citizens, civilization, administration, organizations, or values of the United States. Additionally, officers are urged to keep an eye out for any propaganda intended for assistance or encouragement of foreign terrorists as well as additional dangers to US national security, support for unconstitutional prejudiced intimidation or violence. They are also instructed to flag hopefuls who demonstrate a history of political activism, and to take into account the probability that they are going to keep such acts continuing in the United States. The applicant may still be entitled to a US visa even if the screening process reveals any such problems. However, the processing officer is encouraged to think about whether or not the applicant is likely to follow US laws and only do things that are appropriate for their nonimmigrant visa position.

The resumption of student visa processing comes as a huge sigh of relief for many aspiring US bound students, who are waiting to start their academic journey next Fall 2025. However, the general consensus, both within and outside of the impacted nations, will be that the United States is no longer as welcoming to foreign tourists, including students, especially in countries affected by the ban.