'Scary and stressful': Indian students reconsider plans for US education
BBCWhen 26-year-old Umar Sofi received his acceptance letter from Columbia University's School of Journalism, he thought the hardest part of his journey was over.
After trying for three years, Mr Sofi had finally been itted to his dream university and even secured a partial scholarship. He quit his job in anticipation of the big move.
But on 27 May, when the US suddenly paused student visa appointments, the ground slipped from beneath his feet.
"I was numb. I could not process what had happened," Mr Sofi, who lives in Indian-istered Kashmir, told the BBC.
Some 2,000km (1,242 miles) away in Mumbai, 17-year-old Samita Garg (name changed on request) went through a similar ordeal.
A day after she was accepted into a top US university to study biochemistry - her first step towards becoming a dermatologist - the US embassy halted student visa appointments.
"It is scary and stressful," Ms Garg told the BBC over the phone. "It feels like I've been left in the lurch, not knowing when this will end."
Both Mr Sofi and Ms Garg now have only a few weeks to secure their visas before the academic year begins in August, but little clarity on whether they can go ahead with their plans.
Last month President Donald Trump's istration asked US embassies across the world to stop scheduling appointments for student visas and expand social media vetting of applicants.
This wider move followed a crackdown on America's elite universities like Harvard, which Trump accused of being too liberal and of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.
Trump's decisions have had far-reaching repercussions in India, which sends more international students to the US than any other country.
Over the last month, the BBC spoke with at least 20 students at various stages of their application process, all of whom echoed deep anxieties about their futures. Most chose to remain anonymous, fearing retribution from the US government and worried that speaking out now could hurt their chances of obtaining a visa, or renewing it.
Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesMore than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US colleges in the 2023-24 school year, according to Open Doors, an organisation that collects data on foreign students.
Nearly a third of them, or more than 330,000, were from India.
Educational consultants report that applications to US universities for the autumn semester have dropped by at least 30% because of the uncertainty.
"Their biggest fear is safety - what if their visas are rejected or they're deported mid-term":[]}