A student from Bangladeshi, Min remembers his excitement after learning that he was accepted into a US university. That meant he learned from one of the world's leading medical professionals. He is a learning skill he wants to use to improve his home country's health care system.
Ming, who asked not to use his real name due to fear of strengthening US screening policies, was recently given a visa and is set to start his freshman year this fall.
But the path to getting there was not a smooth one. Following the implementation of a three-week global suspension in a June State Department interview and a strengthened screening policy, many of Min's colleagues delayed the appointment of the interview.
It took me three months to secure the necessary interviews at the embassy for my student visa. He said the software used to schedule interviews continues to crash, and the embassy has limited booking times and is checking that it is open multiple times a day.
Min had seen his visas being approved, but at the end of their interview, some of his friends refused their student visas, he said, some of them led them to apply to universities in other countries. In most cases, it is another English-speaking country, as it is the most common secondary language for Bangladeshi students, he said.
“In the last few years, many of my friends have applied to Australia because there is more uncertainty for the US,” Min said.
The student visa application process has been gaining attention recently. That's due to the Trump administration's changes to the way visa officials review students' social media activities. Some visa applicants have expressed concern that the policy could lead to an increase in visa denials.
However, education nonprofits have been raising alarms over the years about visa refusal rates and long interview wait times. This warns that it could hinder the global competitiveness of higher education in the United States.
Visa refusal varies across regions
The US State Department rejected more than 650,000 student visa applications worldwide between 2018 and 2022. Students from developing countries in South Asia and Africa rejected visas at a much higher rate compared to those from wealthy countries.
This is according to a study that examines eight years of data written by the President's Alliance and Shori Leit student support firm. The report sheds light on the experiences of Asian and African students struggling with long waits to schedule visa interviews.
Research shows that European students applying to study in the US are rarely denied entry. This is less than 8% in 2023. This differs from Africa. In Africa, 61% of students were denied a visa that year, not including South Africa and neighboring countries with very low rejection rates. In South Asia, including Nepal, between 36% and 55% of students reject visas each year.
The world's population of young, clever minds is exploding from sub-Saharan Africa
Carly O'Keefe, Monroe Community College, Rochester
Rajka Bhandari, senior adviser to the president's alliance who led the study, said the findings reflect patterns that university administrators have been aware of for decades.
“From a campus perspective, these students are considered to be fully vetted and worthy of entry,” said Bandari, a former international student in the US. “But they face this last barrier.”
The visa officer will decide whether to grant student entries after interviews at the embassy or consulate. One goal of the interview is to last at most minutes, but to assess whether students may return to their hometowns after graduation.
If a student is unable to demonstrate strong home connections, such as possessing property, working after graduation, or strong family ties, this can be a basis for denial. Visa Officer reviews documents that show students' qualifications to study internationally, including financial statements that indicate that students can afford the university.
Bhandari said many students have expressed concern to university leaders that they meet all requirements but are still being denied. Visa personnel rarely share specific reasons for rejection with applicants.
“You may go back a second time and be rejected again because you don't know what it is that you need to fix,” Bhandari said.
The State Department did not respond directly to requests for comment, but said it has previously committed to a fair visa review process. The department said applications, particularly from Africa, have skyrocketed over the past few years, and “a reasonable increase in denials are expected.”
According to the department, more visas were issued to African students in 2023 than ever before, giving Nigerian students the highest share. However, the rate of refusal for students in Africa increased by 3 percentage points that year, while the rate of refusal for students in Europe and South America fell, according to the survey.
The State Department does not publish data on visa denials, but it discloses the number of student visas issued to each country each month. So far, the number of F-1 visas issued for Nigerian students is 23% lower compared to last year, based on data published until May. For Bangladeshi students like MIN, the number of visas issued is roughly the same as last year.
Experience of being denied a visa
Sooraj Sahani, who enters his sophomore year in Texas, knows how confused and emotional it is to refuse a visa. He applied again three weeks before the start of his freshman year in the fall of 2024, and refused his visa on his first attempt before approving it.
In his village on the plains of Nepal, Sahani has given his appeal to physics by taking online classes from the world's top experts. He was aiming to become like a professor who effectively led the World Scientist Program, a New York City-based nonprofit organization. That's why Sahani decided to study at a university in the United States, where he decided to become a researcher in theoretical physics.
When he learned that Texas was offering him a full undergraduate scholarship, he thought he was on track to make his dream come true. His scholarship means the US could not deny student visas for financial reasons, Sahani said. However, he still ran into problems.
All slots were over weeks last summer when Sahani attempted to book a visa interview appointment for the US Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. Instead, he traveled to New Delhi for an interview with the Visa officer. Sahani said at the end of the approximately one minute interview, the officer told him he was not eligible for a visa without explanation.
Students can wait for US visa interviews in Dhaka, Bangladesh
US Department of State Data
“With a very sad look on my face, I had to come back from India. It took me a while to tell myself that it would happen. I'm not giving up,” he said.
After refusing the visa, Sahani scheduled the appointment of a second visa interview at the embassy in Kathmandu. To secure a slot, he woke up repeatedly in the middle of the night and checked his bookings online.
“I woke up at 2am, 3am and 4am to see if there were visa slots. There are a lot of students applying to the US, but there is only one embassy,” he said.
Since publishing the research, the President's Alliance and other education nonprofits have met with State Department leaders on improving visa processing. The department says it has made progress by lowering waiting times around the world by hiring more staff and giving visa personnel the authority to waive some interviews.
However, in some countries, there are too few embassies and staff, and there are too many students to stay. For the embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the faculty website says there is currently a nine-month wait for student visa interviews.
“Academic and economic losses”
Leaders of higher education warn that if visa issues continue, it will hinder the US's global competitiveness. In January, NAFSA wrote a letter to the Trump administration calling for action to make visa processing times more predictable. The letter also argues that a route will be created for international students to become permanent residents after graduation. This could help address the denial of visa, according to Bandari.
If students are able to live and work in the United States after graduation, they do not need to prove their intention to return to their home country. It is the source of many denials. In April, Congress introduced the Keep STEM Talent Act with bipartisan support, aiming to create this kind of “double-intention” pathway for international students pursuing a degree in science, technology or mathematics. Most of the 1.1 million international students who came to the United States last year chose the STEM field.
Carly O'Keefe, a designated school staff member for international student admissions at Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, said that visa refusal rates for African students are both academic and economic losses.
Like many other states, university admissions to New York is declining. The New York Secretary warns that 2025 could mark the start of a “registered cliff.” This is a sharp decline in applications, reflecting a steady decline in US births since the historic high of 2007.
Meanwhile, the young population in Africa is growing. By 2050, Nigeria is expected to be the third most populous country in the world, after only India and China. Africa not only mentioned youths in college, but also the innovations led by young people. As technology becomes more accessible in Africa, the number of young-led startups is booming.
“The population of the world with a young, clever mind is exploding from sub-Saharan Africa,” she said. “Think about the power and potential talent of the world's brain.”
Last fall, the MCC welcomed around 90 international students from 30 countries since 2018. However, like most universities hosting international students, the number of registered members was less than the number they were due to visa denials. University across the US are missing out on talent because of denial, O'Keefe said.
“We may be missing out on highly qualified students who are enrolled in universities across the country who could be doing amazing academic work,” she said.
