India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) confirmed on Friday that it has begun “active engagement” with the United States after Washington published new regulations that limit the period of admission for many non-immigrant categories—including the F-1 student class that accounts for the lion’s share of Indian mobility to the U.S. Under rules unveiled by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on 17 July, most F-1, J-1 (exchange visitor) and I-1 (media) visas will cease to be issued for ‘duration of status’ and will instead be stamped with a fixed four-year expiry, with only a 30-day grace period to prepare for departure after a course ends. Indian officials say the change will create additional administrative hurdles for an estimated 268,900 Indian students now in the United States and for the record-breaking 165,000 new Indian F-1 applicants expected in the 2026 admission cycle. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters that New Delhi is gathering evidence of practical difficulties—such as the cost of repeated extensions and the risk of unintentional overstay—to present to U.S. counterparts through the bilateral High-Level Mobility Dialogue scheduled this quarter. Diplomatic sources add that India will push for automatic in-country extensions for bona-fide scholars and a faster premium-processing lane for STEM researchers employed by U.S. universities and Fortune-500 sponsors. For multinational companies that depend on India-U.S. project rotations, the fixed-term model also affects accompanying J-1 researchers and media professionals who cover long-running beats. Immigration attorneys are advising corporates to budget for at least one extension petition—and associated fees of roughly US$ 455 plus a US$ 1,500 Fraud Prevention and Detection levy—per assignee during a normal four-year posting. Although visa policy is the sovereign right of any country, the MEA said it will seek “pragmatic flexibilities” that keep the United States competitive for India’s talent pool at a time when Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia are all courting the same cohort with streamlined, digitally managed schemes.
Source: The Times of India
