Indian students trapped in visa limbo as US abruptly reinstates SEVIS status

A 25-year-old communications student from Telangana abruptly left Texas in mid-April, he thought he was fleeing deportation. US immigration authorities had terminated his SEVIS record — a digital document essential to maintaining legal student status—and with online influencers warning of mass detentions, fear spread fast.

Ten days after landing in Hyderabad, his SEVIS record was quietly restored to “active.” But his F-1 visa remained revoked. “I refreshed the page three times. It was back. SEVIS was active again,” he said. “But now I’m stuck in India. I don’t know how to go back.”

His story echoes that of dozens of other Indian nationals whose student records were abruptly terminated over minor or dismissed infractions—cases ranging from dropped shoplifting charges to unpaid jaywalking fines. In many cases, SEVIS records have since been reinstated, even for students who never filed lawsuits. Yet the visas that were revoked remain invalid, barring reentry to the U.S.

A system divided, a future suspended

The SEVIS system — managed by the Department of Homeland Security — tracks international students and determines their legal standing. Once a record is marked “terminated,” students are considered out of status and can be deported.

Visa decisions, however, fall under the state department. And that separation has created a limbo for students: even with active SEVIS status, they cannot return to the US without applying for a new visa.

“There’s no coordination between the agencies,” said Rahul Reddy, a Houston-based immigration attorney handling over 200 such cases. “The SEVIS reinstatements were prompted by legal pressure, not policy change. But because no lawsuits challenged the visa revocations, the State Department hasn’t budged.”

What made this wave different, Reddy added, was the aggressive language in visa revocation notices. “They told students to self-report to ICE. That terrified people. Even minor infractions led to visa cancellations.”

Fear, flight, and fallout

The result has been a mass exodus of students — many pressured by fear, misinformation, or legal uncertainty. A 26-year-old woman from Hyderabad who had been working on OPT after completing her Master’s in Computer Science was one of them.

She fled the U.S. days after her SEVIS was terminated and visa revoked over a 2022 shoplifting charge that had since been dismissed. “Then I got an email saying my SEVIS was reactivated,” she said. “But my visa’s still canceled. I haven’t even told my parents. We took a huge loan for my studies.”

Others saw their futures unravel in real-time. A Texas-based student on STEM OPT, recently selected for the H-1B visa lottery, left the U.S. after his SEVIS termination over an alcohol-related charge. “Now SEVIS is back, but I can’t re-enter. My H-1B is stuck.”

Still others had left for personal reasons, only to learn — while in India — that their status had been revoked. “I came on vacation,” said a 25-year-old student from North Carolina. “Then the unthinkable happened. I may never be able to go back.”

‘We are not criminals. we are students.’

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) estimates that Indian nationals account for about half of the 327 international students whose F-1 visas were revoked in recent months. With Indian students now forming the largest international cohort in the US — over 331,000 in 2023–24 — this issue strikes at the heart of global academic exchange.

Despite the chaos, U.S. officials have offered little reassurance. “Reinstating a SEVIS record does not reinstate a visa,” a US State Department spokesperson was quoted as saying. “Individuals must apply for new visas if theirs have been revoked.”

But for students stuck thousands of miles away — many on OPT, others with job offers or H-1B selections pending—the path forward is murky at best.

“We don’t know whether to reapply, wait, or join lawsuits,” said a 26-year-old from Delaware. “Everyone told us to leave — DSOs, lawyers, even influencers. Now SEVIS is fixed. Why not the visa?”

For the student from Telangana who followed every rule, the silence is deafening.

“I studied hard, worked legally, appeared in court. I believed in the system,” he said. “Now I’m home, with an active SEVIS record and no way to return. America promised opportunity. All we got was fear and abandonment.”