Their US visas revoked over speeding ticket to pro-Palestine piece, Indian students grapple with anxiety: ‘Haven’t told family’

“I haven’t participated in any protests during the Palestinian protests. All I did was write a few pieces on the pro-Palestine movement in 2023 for a few publications, and I feel like I’m being targeted now,” says the scholar, adding he hasn’t informed his family yet. “They’ll worry too much.”

“I’ve been trying for options in other countries…Two have already rejected me. It is very difficult to take a transfer now especially with admissions closed,” he says.

While the 31-year-old suspects his pro-Palestine write-ups may have triggered the action, in recent months, several Indian students in the United States on F-1 visas have faced a combination of rescinded job offers and abrupt funding cuts over infractions they say are minor or already resolved — a speeding ticket, driving under the influence, alleged shoplifting or other misdemeanours that they say have been dismissed by courts. The Indian Express spoke to several students who requested anonymity since they feared university or immigration  repercussions. With their SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records terminated, many of them face imminent deportation from the US.

SEVIS is a US government database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Universities are required to update any change in an international student’s legal or enrollment status on SEVIS. A terminated SEVIS record means the student cannot re-enter the US and, according to the DHS, “Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may investigate to confirm the departure of the student.”

While the US Department of State didn’t share details of the number of Indian students facing visa revocation, last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US has revoked visas of at least 300 foreign students, adding, “We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”

According to Open Doors data, at 3.31 lakh, Indians made for the largest cohort in the US’s 11.26 lakh international student population in 2023-24.

An Indian student in Texas, who had a DUI (driving under the influence) charge against him in 2023 that was subsequently dismissed, is among those whose visa stands revoked. The student, who did a Master’s in Computer Science, is on a STEM Optional Practical Training program (OPT), which authorises students on an F-1 visa (for international students) to work for up to 12 months and then extend it by another 24 months in the case of students with STEM degrees.

He says he received an email from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) under the Department of Homeland Security on April 4, and another from the visa office of the Bureau of Consular Affairs on April 7, saying his OPT authorisation period had ended and his F-1 visa was being revoked. His STEM OPT was valid till May 2026.

“The DUI was my first offence and I was allowed to go through a diversion program, and the charges were dismissed,” says the student who has been working as a software engineer. “I don’t know who to contact…I have a Rs 30 lakh loan and have worked only for 10 months. Since that needs to be paid off, leaving the country will be the last option. I’ve been trying to get legal help, but we don’t know if that will work. I haven’t told my family yet.”

Last year, a 24-year-old Master’s student at a Missouri university was pulled over for driving at 45 mph in a 35-mph zone while holding a learner’s permit. Last week, he got an email from his university informing him that his F-1 visa had been revoked.

“When I got the speeding ticket last year, I went to court, got a full licence, complied with everything. But now, my visa has been revoked,” he says. “I rushed to the university office. All they said was: ‘You need to go back to India.’”

His plan now is desperate: he has one month until graduation and is trying to file an appeal with a local attorney. “Even if they don’t reinstate my visa, I’m hoping they’ll let me stay for a few more weeks to finish my exams… Years of effort, my family’s savings, everything is at stake over something I thought I had resolved legally,” he says.

In Michigan, a 26-year-old student faces a similar crisis — his SEVIS was terminated on April 1, and his visa revoked while on the final leg of his STEM OPT.

It began when he called police during a physical altercation. “It’s the state law here that if there’s no third person or proof, they detain both people,” he says. The case was a misdemeanour, later dismissed without charges or bond. But it triggered the termination of my SEVIS. I lost my project. I lost my status,” he added.

Now, he is scrambling to find an immigration attorney to file a motion that might reopen the case though he’s aware it may not help. “I don’t know if I’ll be allowed to stay even another month.”

A 23-year-old Indian student in Texas, who is part of the OPT program, says he received an email from his college in the first week of April on his SEVIS record being terminated. “In 2023, I had a case of shoplifting against me. But there wasn’t enough evidence for my involvement and it was dismissed. I was told that the college was checking the SEVIS records and found that mine had been terminated,” he says. His OPT period would have ended next month, and he had already applied for the extension that a STEM degree allows him.

Another student on OPT, who studied in New York, said she received an email on her SEVIS record being terminated. After somebody she knew allegedly used her ID to try and enter a club last year, both of them were caught, but the charges were later dismissed, she says, adding: “I didn’t know it would be such a big deal.”

A student in Texas who received his OPT authorisation only last month and whose SEVIS record has now been terminated, says, “I was driving with an expired number plate and expired insurance. I had to go to court, and eventually paid a fine.”

Ravi Lothumalla of ‘US Admissions’ in Texas, who helps students with admissions to American universities, has been fielding questions from several students faced with visa revocations over the past week. “The issue here is the SEVIS termination, which doesn’t usually happen in such cases. These students want to stay back in the US. Compliance with laws here is also important, and students don’t realise that something that appears to be minor to them can also result in charges,” he says.

Chand Parvathaneni, an attorney in Texas, whose law firm “is in touch with 30-40 students” who are in similar situations, says, “Previously these kinds of issues used to see a ‘prudential visa revocation’, but the SEVIS would be active. If the visa is revoked but SEVIS is not terminated, usually the student continues to maintain valid status and can stay in the country for as long as SEVIS is active. What that means is that in the past, they were able to continue their F-1 program but whenever they left the country eventually, they had to get visa stamping done again.”

Asked for a response on the number of Indian students whose visas have been revoked and reasons for revocation, the US Department of State referred to an April 8 press briefing by the department’s spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who had said, “We don’t go into statistics or numbers; we don’t go into the rationale for what happens with individual visas.”

As students grapple with the uncertainty, for now, their chat groups are full of questions on legal fees, whether they can apply for a different type of visa and how the SEVIS record can be reinstated.

One of the students whose SEVIS has been terminated says, “No one has a proper answer for any of the issues we have. We don’t know how many days we have before we need to leave. And, why were these cases dismissed earlier? Rather than fighting, should we just return?”

At Texas, a 24-year-old Indian student recently lost his STEM OPT job and his visa status over a three-year-old stop sign violation.

“In 2022, I missed a stop sign. I did community service, paid my dues and the case was closed. But two weeks ago, I received notice from my university that my SEVIS has been terminated and I have to leave the country.”

His plan now: return to India, though he has no idea what career options he’ll have. “My family took a huge loan to send me here. I did everything the court asked me to do. But none of it seems to matter.”

Out of fear, he has left the university residence and is now couch-surfing in another state. “We’ve been hearing about people being picked up from their homes too,” he says. “For students like us, this country no longer feels the same.”