India and China have emerged as the biggest losers under the Trump administration’s tighter immigration policies, with the US issuing significantly fewer visas across categories in 2025, a media report said.
According to State Department data released earlier this month, the US issued around 2.5 lakh fewer visas between January and August 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. Overall, approvals for permanent resident and temporary visas dropped by 11 per cent year-on-year, impacting students, workers and family members of citizens and legal residents.
The decline does not include tourist visas, which also fell during the period, The Washington Post reported.
The sharpest drop was seen among Indian and Chinese nationals, with visas issued to them falling by about 84,000 compared to the previous year—largely due to a decline in international students and workers.
Student visas saw a steep fall, dropping from over 3.44 lakh between January and August 2024 to just above 2.38 lakh during the same period in 2025. Business and tourism visas also dipped by about 3.4 per cent, translating to a reduction of nearly two lakh visas.
Family-based immigration categories were also affected. Family preference visas—covering adult children and siblings of US citizens—fell by more than 27 per cent, or over 44,000 visas.
Other categories saw similar contractions. Visas issued to sea and airline workers dropped by 30,876, while those for cultural exchange visitors declined by 29,594. Fiancé/spouse visas nearly halved, falling from 37,229 in the first eight months of 2024 to 18,894 in the same period this year.
Defending the policy, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement that “President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to put American citizens first and every policy decision he’s made has reflected that priority.”
In a statement to The Washington Post, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said: “A visa is a privilege, not a right. Unlike the Biden administration, President Trump is not willing to compromise the safety of American citizens to allow mass migration of unvetted foreign nationals into our country.”