The Trump administration’s stricter visa policies led to about 250,000 fewer visas issued in the first eight months of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, according to State Department data cited by the Washington Post.
From January through August 2025 the State Department approved 11 percent fewer permanent and temporary visas than in the same period a year earlier. These categories, which include visas for students, workers and family members of US citizens and lawful residents, do not include tourist visas — which also fell over the same period, the report said.
Nationals of India and China bore the largest share of the reduction: visas for those two countries dropped by roughly 84,000 year‑over‑year, largely reflecting declines in international student and work visas. Business and tourism visas were down about 3.4 percent in the first eight months of 2025 compared with a year earlier — a fall that amounted to nearly 200,000 fewer visas.
Student visas fell sharply, from more than 344,000 in January–August 2024 to just over 238,000 in the same months of 2025. Family preference visas, which cover adult children and siblings of US citizens, decreased by more than 27 percent, a drop of over 44,000. Visas for sea and airline workers declined by 30,876, and cultural exchange visas fell by 29,594. Fiancé and spouse visas dropped from 37,229 in the first eight months of 2024 to 18,894 in 2025.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president was elected with a mandate to prioritize American citizens, and that administration policies have reflected that objective. A State Department spokesman, Tommy Pigott, emphasized that the administration views visas as a privilege rather than a right and said the government is not willing to compromise citizen safety by allowing what he described as mass migration of unvetted foreign nationals.
The Washington Post reported the figures based on State Department statistics released in early March, highlighting the policy-driven shift in visa issuance and its concentrated impact on applicants from India and China.
