Overview
- Preliminary State Department data for January–August 2025 show roughly 250,000 fewer visas issued than a year earlier, an overall decline of about 11 percent.
- Student visas fell by more than 30 percent and exchange visitor visas — widely used by foreign medical trainees — dropped by nearly 30,000.
- Capped family categories decreased by over 27 percent, or about 44,000 visas, while green-card approvals fell for workers, some relatives, and Iraqi and Afghan partners; immediate relative green cards rose about 6 percent.
- Nationals of India and China accounted for about 84,000 fewer approvals, with additional drops topping 10,000 for the Philippines and Vietnam and sharp declines for countries affected by the June travel ban.
- Coverage links the downturn to a 19-country travel ban, a pause in student and exchange interviews, expanded social-media vetting, and staffing cuts, with separate estimates indicating net emigration exceeded immigration in 2025 and the Fed citing weaker job growth.