As the Trump administration changes rules for F-1 student and H-1B work visas, fewer international students are coming to the U.S., and those here face an uncertain future.
Editor’s note [11/10]: Some information in this story has been changed to protect the safety of the sources. *Sagar and *Pooja have chosen to use pseudonyms for reference. For questions, please contact us at [email protected].
Shivani Dwivedi fell in love with the camera while working in marketing in Mumbai.
She’s always loved films and TV shows. But after watching two older women as main characters in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, she knew she had to move to the U.S. to pursue acting. Dwivedi said that in India, she rarely sees a woman older than 25 play a protagonist.
The U.S., she said, is the place to be if she wants to become an international model and actress.
So when she finally got an F-1 student visa to pursue a Master of Fine Arts at DePaul University in Chicago, she was over the moon.
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“If it was going to be Mars or Pluto, I think my aim would have been to go [there] as well,” she said. “I came here, and the weird thing was I felt so familiar and so liberated in such different ways. There was no familiarity with people, but it felt so free, so safe.”
But the future Dwivedi dreamt of is now less certain.
Since taking office last year, President Donald Trump’s administration has made sweeping changes to student and work visa rules.
What was once a common path for immigrants like Dwivedi — receiving an F-1 visa to study in the U.S. and then getting permission to work through Optional Practical Training status or an H-1B visa — has become harder with the federal government increasing restrictions and vetting for international students.
And while many of these changes are being challenged in court, the proposed tightening of visa rules has discouraged international students from coming to the United States and made the future for existing students more precarious.
The Institute of International Education estimates that as many as 111,000 fewer international students will enroll at U.S. colleges and universities for the 2026-27 school year. This could translate to a $3.4 billion loss for the U.S. economy and nearly 40,000 fewer jobs, according to analysis from NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
In Illinois alone, this translates to a projected loss of over $190 million in economic activity this school year due to fewer international students paying tuition, working and buying things in the state.
“The projections underscore what we’ve long warned: U.S. policy and regulations affect where international students plan to invest their future — and their decisions carry significant short- and long-term consequences for U.S. society and economy,” said executive director and CEO of NAFSA, a nonprofit that advocates for policies supporting international education, in a press release. “All Americans lose when international students and scholars are driven to more welcoming countries.”
Changes to F-1 student visas
Dwivedi recalls the relief she felt over two years ago when she realized that her student visa application would be approved after two rejections.
After her appointment at a U.S. consulate in India, she’d told her auto rickshaw driver that she wasn’t certain if it was approved.
“He asked, ‘Did they take your passport?’ I said, ‘Yes,’” Dwivedi recalled. “He said, ‘Then you got it.’”
Like Dwivedi, anyone who immigrates to the U.S. to attend an American college or university must go through the F-1 visa process, or the student visa process.
The process has historically required applicants to get accepted into a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, complete the necessary forms and schedule a visa interview at a U.S. consulate.
An F-1 visa can cost anywhere between $535 and $850 in fees. Still, an F-1 visa does not necessarily guarantee entry into the U.S. Federal officers at the port of entry still have authority to permit or deny admission.
Between May and August 2025, 36% fewer F-1 visas were issued compared to that of 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of State. India, the top sender of international students to the U.S., saw a drop of more than 60% in student visas issued during that period, according to an analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Being able to study in the United States can feel like winning the lottery. But it does not guarantee a smooth ride for students, particularly when it comes to covering tuition fees and living costs.
Holding an F-1 visa status allows holders to work only on-campus jobs for up to 20 hours a week. For international students like Dwivedi who worked in their home country, that restriction can be a significant change.
“Not working anymore, having that little bit every month with rent — I was so scared about the finances,” she said. “I was really scared.”
International students pay out-of-state or non-resident tuition at public universities and often don’t have access to the same student loan and scholarship opportunities that U.S. residents have. But many international students are willing to pay more because of their potential job earnings after graduating.
Visa restrictions and the Trump administration’s proposed changes to the F-1 visa are now shifting this calculation for many students.
En julio, the Trump administration proposed that the amount of time students can study while on an F-1 visa be fixed to a period of four years, enforcing stricter limits on students changing majors or transferring schools. It also reduced the departure grace period. Previously, students had 60 days to prepare for departure from the United States after graduating. Now, they would have 30 days.
These rules are currently blocked and being litigated, but Dwivedi told Borderless that these restrictions have made her rethink her plans to remain here.
“I don’t plan to settle in the U.S.,” Dwivedi said. “Education contributes to a [significant percentage] of the U.S. economy. My papers are right. I am doing everything right, and then every other day I am threatened. I am scared that I might be deported or my visa would be revoked. It is not worth it. I just want to have a little peace of mind [where I can create art].”
Working after studying is becoming more difficult
F-1 visa holders are not automatically able to remain in the United States and work after they graduate.
Those hoping to live and work in the U.S. after graduating must apply for either a work visa or a training status like Optional Practical Training (OPT) or Curricular Practical Training (CPT), which allows F-1 visa holders to live and work in the United States temporarily.
Sagar moved to the U.S. from India four years ago on an F-1 visa to pursue an MBA on the East Coast. Now, he is based in Chicago and works through an F-1 OPT.
He applied and was denied an H-1B visa through the lottery system twice. He will be making his third and final application for the visa early next year, and he will learn if he received the visa in April.
“I have a very imminent potential departure coming up from the United States of America after having built a career, done everything I needed to do, and all of that,” Sagar told Borderless.
H-1B visas allow U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialized fields, which require at least a Bachelor’s degree.
USCIS issues 65,000 general H-1B visas and 20,000 additional visas to advanced degree holders from U.S. institutions per year. Indian citizens account for more than 70% of approved H-1B applications.
H-1B visas can cost employers over $10,000 in application fees per employee. Last year, the Trump administration tried to add an additional $100,000 fee per employee through a presidential proclamation. While the fee increase has since been blocked by federal courts, the change led to a 78% drop in H-1B visa issuance while the fee was in effect.
Increased vetting of applicants’ social media posts and engagement has also led to concerns about the future of the H-1B and F-1 visa programs. Last June, the State Department issued a diplomatic cable asking consular offices to look for any “history of political activism” among student visa applicants.
For individuals like Sagar who want to study and work in the United States, these restrictions can feel like a bind.
This year, Sagar has watched his peers protesting in India as they demanded accountability from their government and advocated for better education conditions and workplace safety, among other things. He said that some members of Chicago’s Indian diaspora would like to show their support for the protests by posting online and attending local demonstrations. But many Indian visa holders Borderless spoke to are scared to speak up due to the risk of having to leave the life they worked so hard to build in the U.S.
They all noted feeling restricted in their ability to speak out against political issues back home and in the U.S. due to social media vetting associated with their visa statuses, and the Trump administration’s history of punishing noncitizens for their political affiliations.
While waiting to learn his visa status, Sagar has walked a fine line of speaking out and protecting his identity.
In July, Sagar played a role in planning protests alongside organizations like Hindus for Human Rights but ultimately opted to leave his name out of the official planning documents. He says he’s afraid of being seen by both the Indian and U.S. governments due to his unstable visa status.
“I am very purposefully under the radar on everything,” he said. “I won’t post anything publicly. I won’t be the face of anything, but I will make sure there is a face.”
Even if he follows all of the rules, Sagar said it is unclear whether he’ll be able to continue working in the United States.
“[You are] unable to plan for your future, given the unpredictability of it all,” Sagar said. “So how do I plan for the future? I am capable at this stage of buying a house, buying a car. But I am not making any of those decisions because I don’t know if I’m going to be here.”
A precarious future for immigrant workers
Pooja Patel describes her feelings since coming to the United States as “precarious.”
She immigrated to the U.S. from India in 2022 for her master’s. She was an F-1 visa holder and now holds an H-1B visa.
But even with this visa, Patel says she feels heavily restricted under the weight of potential changes to visa rules.
“I feel very unsure about what the next year or two of my life is going to look like,” Patel said. “That is not a normal way to live.”
Patel, among other visa holders, told Borderless she feels uncertain about her future in the U.S. following the most recent proposed rule change to H-1B visas issued in September, which would eliminate the 60-day grace period for visa holders and consider some workers immediately removable from the U.S. if they can no longer find an employer that would sponsor their visa status.
“So, if I lose my job in America, the next day, I am an illegal immigrant,” Patel said.
This unpredictability has taken a toll on her.
“It has been four years, but I can’t tell you a moment in those four years where I was like, ‘I think I’m going to stay here,’” Patel said. “I feel very unsure about what the next year or two of my life is going to look like. That is not a normal way to live.”
This is the sentiment immigration attorney Flavia Santos says she hears from many of her clients.
“This is an explicit attack on legal immigration,” she said. “These folks are doing it the right way.”
Many of the proposed visa changes are currently being litigated. Santos recommends that visa holders be proactive in following visa guidelines in the meantime.
She also noted “things are not what they used to be” and recommended avoiding travel altogether, with general safety in mind.
“I tell my clients to tell us about any planned trips so we can assess individually the risks these people have,” she said.
For Patel, this means taking life one day at a time while also coming to terms with the idea that she may need to leave the career she’s built for herself in the future.
“There’s a lot I appreciate about this country — about its people, about its resistance movement, and its real ability to give anybody a fair chance and an economic chance,” Patel said. “I really love this country but I feel like the signs [of uncertainty] were there.”
Tara Mobasher es reportera y redactora del boletín de Borderless Magazine. Envía un correo electrónico a Tara a [email protected].
