US Issues Record-Breaking 600K Student Visas Globally

The United States has issued over 600,000 student visas globally, the highest figure since the 2017 fiscal year, the US Department of State has said.

In a statement issued on November 28, the State Department said that US embassies and consulates in India issued more than 140,000 visas to Indian students in 2022, setting a new record, Erudera.com reports.

Additionally, nearly 40,000 student visas were issued to African students, of which more than 9,700 visas were granted to applicants from Nigeria.

Between October 2022 and September 2023, corresponding to the 2023 federal fiscal year, the Department granted a close-record number of nonimmigrant visas, surpassing 10 million worldwide.

During this period, half of the US embassies and consulates processed more nonimmigrant visas than ever before.

"From October 2022 through September 2023 (the 2023 federal fiscal year), the Department of State issued a near-record level of nonimmigrant visas of more than 10 million globally," the statement by the US State Department reads.

According to the 2023 Open Doors Report, released annually by the Institute of International Education and the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the number of international students at US colleges and universities has increased at the fastest annual rate in more than 40 years.

International enrollment in the US higher education system has also recovered from the decline recorded during the coronavirus pandemic. The report found there were 1,057,188 international students enrolled at the US higher education institutions during the 2022/23 academic year.

That is an increase of nearly 12 percent compared to the previous year. The same data indicate that international students now make up more than 5 percent of the total student population in the US.

The majority of international students studying in the US are from China and India. For the third consecutive year, a record number of students from India chose the US as their study destination.

In the 2022/23 academic year, a total of 268,923 Indian students attended US higher education institutions, an all-time high, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

India has surpassed China when it comes to international graduates, becoming the largest source of international students graduating in the United States

“The number of Indian graduate students rose by 63 percent to 165,936 students, an increase of nearly 64,000 students, compared to last year, while Indian undergraduate students also increased by 16 percent,” the US Embassy and Consulates in India said on November 13.

Official data show that international students contribute up to $38 billion annually to the US economy.