Donald Trump takes U-turn, restores visa registrations for thousands of foreign students, for now

The Donald Trump administration has announced the restoration of student visa registrations for potentially thousands of international students in the United States, following a period of abrupt and often unexplained terminations that left many at risk of deportation, Reuters reported.

This reversal of student visas for international scholars was revealed during a federal court hearing in Boston, where the Justice Department informed the court that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would reinstate the legal status of affected students and is now developing a new policy framework for future visa record terminations.

The controversy began when ICE, which maintains the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database tracking around 1.1 million foreign students, suddenly terminated the records of over 4,700 students since January 2025.

Many foreign students at US universities were not notified of the Trump administration's actions, discovering the terminations only through routine checks or after being blocked from classes, research, or even graduation.

In many cases, the terminations were triggered by criminal history checks that flagged minor or dismissed infractions, but often no clear reason was provided.

In recent months, a significant number of F-1 student visas have been revoked by the US government, often abruptly and without prior notification to the affected students. These revocations have been based on a range of alleged reasons, including minor or dismissed legal infractions, criminal history checks, national security concerns, or administrative decisions citing potential adverse foreign policy consequences.

Importantly, a visa revocation means that the student’s permission to enter the US is withdrawn, but it does not necessarily terminate their legal status if they are already in the country; however, many students have faced simultaneous termination of their SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records, which effectively ends their lawful status and puts them at risk of deportation.

The mass terminations sparked widespread panic and more than 100 lawsuits across at least 23 states, with judges in dozens of cases issuing restraining orders to temporarily restore students’ legal status.

The US courts expressed frustration at the arbitrary nature of the terminations and the lack of clarity from government lawyers regarding the students’ ability to remain in the country.

In response to mounting legal pressure, ICE has now stated that, until a formal policy is established, SEVIS records for students in similar situations will remain active or be reactivated, and no further terminations will occur solely on the basis of flagged criminal history checks.

The Donald Trump administration's decision to reinstate visa registrations of international students is expected to apply broadly, not just to those who have filed lawsuits, offering relief to thousands of international students whose academic and professional futures had been thrown into uncertainty.