Indian tourists planning to visit Dubai are encountering a troubling surge in visa rejections, with stricter documentation rules leading to more setbacks. Travel agents report rising financial losses for applicants, as rejections impact not only visa fees but also non-refundable flight tickets and hotel reservations. Visa rejections, once as low as 1-2%, have now risen to 5-6%, even for applicants with complete documentation, creating frustration and travel disruptions.

Meanwhile, Indian students pursuing education in the US are facing a steep decline in visa issuances. The US State Department's data shows a 38% drop in F-1 student visas granted to Indian nationals during the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. This sharp fall follows a post-pandemic surge in Indian student enrollments at US universities.

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A detailed analysis of non-immigrant visa reports reveals that 64,008 F-1 visas were issued to Indian students from January to September this year, down from 1,03,495 in the same months last year. This marks a significant drop from previous years, such as 93,181 in 2022 and 65,235 in 2021. The pandemic year of 2020 saw just 6,646 F-1 visas issued to Indian students.

Although the decline is not exclusive to Indian students, the drop is notably more significant for them compared to other nationalities. Chinese students, representing the second-largest group of international students in the US, saw a modest 8% decrease in visa issuances this year.

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F-1 visas, which account for over 90% of student visas issued by the US, are primarily for students enrolling in academic programs. The decline in F-1 visa issuances to Indian students comes at a time when India has reached significant milestones in US higher education. In the 2022-2023 academic year, India surpassed China in new student visa issuances, and in 2023-2024, Indians became the largest group of international students in the US, surpassing China.

The Open Doors 2024 report shows that there were 3,31,000 Indian students in the US during the 2023-2024 academic year, representing 29.4% of the total international student population in the US. In comparison, China had 2,77,000 students, or 24.6% of the international student body.

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