US Revokes Over 100,000 Visas In 2025, Including 8,000 Student Permits

The Trump administration has revoked over 100,000 visas, including of about 8,000 students, in 2025, setting what it said was a new record as part of its immigration policy to protect the US from foreign nationals posing a risk to public safety or national security.

"We will continue to deport these thugs to keep America safe,” the State Department said in a social media post on Monday.

"The State Department has now revoked over 100,000 visas, including some 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialised visas for individuals who had encounters with US law enforcement for criminal activity," it said.

Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the State Department Tommy Pigott said the Trump administration has no higher priority than protecting American citizens and upholding American sovereignty. 

"In less than one year, the State Department revoked over 100,000 visas from foreign nationals, marking a new record and more than a 150 per cent increase in revocations since 2024,” Pigott said in a statement to PTI.

He added that the State Department revoked visas from thousands of foreign nationals charged or convicted with crimes, including assault, theft, and driving under the influence. 

The State Department's recently-launched Continuous Vetting Centre works to ensure that all foreign nationals on American soil comply with our laws — and that the visas of those who pose a threat to American citizens are swiftly revoked.

“The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security,” Pigott said.

Under the Continuous Vetting program, the State Department has said that it will continue to conduct an evaluation of all visa holders in the country - 55 million foreign nationals - and check their records for any criminal activity such as driving under the influence, assault or theft while they are in the US.  

A report in Fox News said that more than 100,000 visas were revoked by the Trump administration in 2025, which is more than twice of the revocations in President Joe Biden’s final year in office in 2024, when the State Department revoked 40,000 visas. 

The report said that while the majority of the revocations in 2025 were for business and tourist travellers who overstayed their visas, 8,000 students and 2,500 individuals on specialised visas had their documents revoked due to criminal encounters with law enforcement. 

"Among specialised workers, half of the revocations were based on drunken driving arrests, 30 per cent for assault, battery or confinement charges, and the remaining 20 per cent were revoked for theft, child abuse, substance abuse and distribution, and fraud and embezzlement charges,” the Fox News report said.

It added that nearly 500 students had their visas revoked for possession and distribution of drugs while hundreds of foreign workers lost their visas because they were believed to be "abusing children.”

The report quoted Pigott as saying that the administration would “continue its aggressive enforcement posture through its new ‘continuous vetting center’." The Trump administration has intensified its crackdown on immigration, both illegal and legal, and has tightened rules for individuals to immigrate to the country, whether to work or study.

From December 15, the State Department also began an enhanced screening and vetting of H-1B and its dependent H-4 visas, checking social media profiles of the applicants.

As a result of this guideline, several H-1B visa interviews scheduled across India have been postponed and pushed months ahead, leaving many visa holders who had travelled to India for their visa stamping stranded in the country.

The State Department has underscored that a US visa is a privilege, not a right, and said that it uses all available information in visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security or public safety.