Beware! US may revoke your student visa for minor traffic offences, shoplifting - Here’s all you need to know

Dozens of Indian students in the United States have been ordered to self-deport after their F-1 student visas were revoked due to minor criminal offences, a TOI report said on Tuesday.

The Designate School Officials (DSOs) at various schools have informed these students about their abrupt revocation via email, saying that their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) have been terminated. This means that their Form I-20, Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and their legal presence in the US is now invalid.

Offences listed as cause for revocation

The offences range from traffic violations like speeding and driving without a licensed supervisor on a learner’s permit, and failing to stop at red light, to more serious but resolved cases of shoplifting and alcohol-related charges, the TOI report said.

The DSOs emails also urged the students to make prompt arrangements for self-deportation as their F-1 visa is no longer valid.

A student in Texas, arrested for shoplifting items worth $144 had the case dismissed due to a clean academic record and full cooperation with authorities, yet still faces deportation, the report added.

The report also said that consultants and legal experts have seen a surge in inquiries from distressed Indian students, advising affected students to seek immediate legal counsel if the offences are over a year old.

A Texas-based lawyer, handling 30 similar cases, said that SEVIS terminations for petty offences are rare in precedent.

The hush-hush revocations

A Bloomberg report on Tuesday said that the Trump administration has been quietly revoking student visas of foreign nationals at colleges like Harvard, Tufts, and Stanford.

Dozens of students and recent graduates in California have had their visas terminated across multiple campuses, including UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz as well as Stanford. Two unidentified students have filed lawsuits in federal court alleging their visas were canceled without due process, in some cases over minor legal infractions such as driving violations, according to the report.

Detained for ‘antisemitic’ acts

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher pursuing conflict studies at Georgetown University, was detained on March 17 after his visa was revoked based on allegations of antisemitic speech and ties to Hamas. Suri denies the claims, stating he’s being targeted due to his wife’s Palestinian background.

He is reportedly being held at an immigration detention center in Louisiana.

Ranjani Srinivasan, another Indian scholar, self-deported after her visa was revoked in March this year. According to Department of Homeland Security, the Indian citizen self-deported after participating in pro-Palestinian protests at United States' Columbia University.

Why is US asking students to self-deport

International students in the United States are being asked to self-deport, in a communication from the country's Department of State (DOS) owing to their campus activism.

The crackdown is based on social media reviews being conducted by the US DOS. Even new student applications, be it for an F (academic study visa), M (vocational study visa) or J (exchange visa) will come under such social media scrutiny. Applicants will be denied the opportunity to study in the United States.

As many as 1.1 million international students, including 3,32 lakh Indians, studied in the US in 2023-24, according to the latest Open Doors report. Open Doors, an annual survey by the Institute of International Education (IIE), provides data on international students in the United States and US students studying abroad