[ad_1] US Student Visa Policy: On one hand, many countries in the world are tightening their policies to reduce the number of international students, while some countries are making it easier. The favorite countries for studies for Indian students include US, Canada, UK, Australia. This time the record was broken in the US and leaving China behind, India became the number one country from where the maximum number of students (29.4%) went to study in the US.But amid speculations about changes in immigration policy and major changes in the US, students are confused because most of them want to study there and work there. According to the data of the Government of India, at present about 13.35 lakh students are studying in foreign universities, in 2023 this figure was about 13.18 lakh. At the same time, America received about 11 lakh international students in the session 2023-24 and 29.4% of these are students from India. A year before that this figure was 25.4%.Question on visa, Trump's return also creates ruckusAccording to Open Doors Report 2024, more than 3.3 lakh Indian students went to study in the US, whereas last year this number was 2.69 lakh. More than half of the students chose STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields, 43% of the students took admission in computer science and mathematics courses.But after the arrival of President Donald Trump in the US, the policy regarding international students is in controversy. In view of the change in immigration policy, the US even called back its international students before Trump took power. Because of this, the problems of those Indian students are increasing, who want to work in the US after studies and this number is quite high.There is a controversy going on in America over the H-1B visa used by companies in many sectors including technology and engineering to hire foreign employees. H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa, which allows to live and work there. According to previous figures, more than 75% of H-1B visas were received by India. Donald Trump is in support of this visa but his/her own supporters say that because of this visa the jobs of Americans are decreasing.Less difficulties in STEM fields!In this situation, the problems of the students are reaching the career experts. Foreign education consultant Alok Bansal says that the students are quite confused due to the news coming in because most of the students want to work in the US after studying. Whether they will get H1B visa or not is a question in their mind. However, from the stance of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, it seems that decisions will be taken in favor of Indian students, because students from STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) are in great demand in the US.There is no big problem in STEM field, because work permit is available for 3 years. But in non-STEM fields, work permit is available for only one year. Students should choose their institute in the US wisely. Either they go to the US for STEM courses or go to universities that have STEM education.Popular program OPT also came under targetThe Optional Practical Training (OPT) program is popular among international students in the US to get H-1B visa. But there are demands to stop it in the US. After graduation, students enroll in this program. Last year, more than 97 thousand students from India had enrolled in the OPT program.On the other hand, the changes in F-1 visa have made studying in the US somewhat difficult. F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa, which gives international students the opportunity to study in the US. With this visa, earlier students were allowed to go out of the US for a certain period of time for reasons like international internship, studying a semester in another country, holidays etc. But under the new rules, now students will not be able to stay outside America for more than five months. [ad_2]
