International students in the US are increasingly anxious

For many years, the questions international students brought to immigration lawyers were relatively predictable.

‘How do I apply for Optional Practical Training’ (OPT)? ‘Can I work after graduation?’ ‘What happens if I am selected in the H-1B lottery?’ ‘How do I stay permanently in the United States?’

Those questions still exist. But over the past two years, the conversations have changed. Today, many international students are not simply asking how to build a future in the United States. Increasingly, they are asking whether that future remains attainable at all.

As an immigration attorney who regularly advises international students, recent graduates, universities and employers, I have noticed a significant shift in both the substance and tone of student concerns. The questions remain legal, but they are also increasingly personal. Students are looking for certainty in a system that often feels uncertain.

The result is a growing sense of unease that many universities are seeing first-hand.

The lingering impact of SEVIS cancellations

The issue that continues to arise most frequently is the wave of SEVIS record terminations and visa revocations that affected thousands of international students in 2025.

Students across the country suddenly found themselves confronting the possibility of losing lawful status, interrupting their studies or being forced to leave the United States. Universities often learnt about the problem only after students themselves discovered their records had been terminated.

Although many records were eventually restored after litigation and public scrutiny, the episode left a lasting impression.

International students watched classmates lose internships, suspend studies, cancel international travel, withdraw from employment opportunities and spend thousands of dollars seeking legal assistance. Even students who were never directly affected continue to ask whether something similar could happen again.

For many, the episode fundamentally changed how secure they feel about their immigration status.

OPT no longer feels like a guaranteed bridge

For decades, Optional Practical Training (OPT) served as a relatively predictable bridge between academic study and professional employment.

Students completed their degrees, gained practical experience and hoped to transition into H-1B status or another long-term immigration pathway. Today, many students are less certain.

They follow news reports discussing possible restrictions on employment authorisation, increased compliance reviews and changing immigration priorities. Some wonder whether future policy changes could affect their ability to work after graduation.

The concern is no longer simply obtaining OPT. The concern is whether the bridge from education to employment will remain stable long enough to cross it.

H-1B process has become a series of hurdles

No topic generates more anxiety among international students than H-1B sponsorship, the programme which allows US employers to hire foreign nationals in speciality roles requiring high expertise.

Historically, students viewed the process primarily as a lottery. The challenge was obtaining selection.

Today, many students view the process as a sequence of increasingly difficult hurdles. The first challenge is finding an employer willing to sponsor.

The second is navigating the government’s new wage-weighted selection system. Many students worry that recent graduates are inherently disadvantaged because entry-level salaries often fall within lower Department of Labor wage levels, while more experienced workers receive a statistical advantage.

Yet selection itself is no longer viewed as the finish line. Students now worry about what happens after the lottery.

Will the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issue a request for evidence? Will they challenge the position as a speciality occupation? Will there be a Notice of Intent to Deny? Will the petition ultimately be approved?

For many students, securing an H-1B increasingly feels like surviving a gauntlet of hurdles rather than winning a single lottery.

And even beyond H-1B lies another question that students increasingly ask: if they ultimately qualify for permanent residence, will the pathway still be available when they get there?

Recent debate surrounding USCIS’ adjustment-of-status discretion policies has attracted significant attention among international students and young professionals. Most are years away from filing for permanent residence. Yet many closely follow these developments because they view them as signals about the future stability of the immigration system itself.

The concern is rarely about a specific memorandum. It is about uncertainty.

Students want to know whether the long-term investment they are making in an American education will ultimately lead to a viable future in the United States.

Reinstatement cases reveal hidden vulnerabilities

Another issue receiving increased attention is reinstatement – a process to restore immigration status after violating visa terms. Students can fall out of status for a surprising number of reasons.

Sometimes the cause is administrative. A misunderstanding regarding enrolment requirements. A reporting mistake. A compliance issue involving practical training. In other cases, the causes are deeply personal. A death in the family. Serious illness. Depression. Anxiety. Financial hardship.

International students often carry enormous academic and family expectations while operating thousands of miles from their support networks. When life intervenes, immigration consequences can follow quickly.

Many students are surprised to discover how little room for error exists within the system. The increase in reinstatement enquiries reflects a broader reality: immigration compliance has become one more source of pressure in already demanding lives.

The fear of changes to duration of status

Perhaps no issue better illustrates current student concerns than the proposed replacement of Duration of Status (D/S).

For decades, most F-1 students have been admitted for the duration of their academic programme. If additional time was needed because of dissertation research, laboratory work, changes in degree level or other academic reasons, universities could generally update the student’s record and issue revised documentation.

Under the proposed framework which the Office of Management and Budget has recently reviewed, many students would instead need to file Form I-539 applications with USCIS to extend their stay. The new rule is expected to be published in the Federal Register before taking effect later this year.

The distinction may sound technical, but its consequences could be significant. A doctoral student whose dissertation requires additional research. A student whose graduation is delayed because of illness. A researcher extending a project. A student transitioning from a masters programme to a doctoral programme. All could find themselves seeking approval from USCIS rather than working through existing university procedures.

Higher education organisations have warned that such a system could generate hundreds of thousands of additional immigration filings while adding costs, delays and uncertainty for students and institutions alike.

For students, the concern is not merely the filing fee. It is the prospect of waiting months for a government decision while research, internships, employment opportunities, funding arrangements and graduation plans remain in limbo.

Travel has become a source of anxiety

One of the most striking changes in recent years involves international travel. Students increasingly ask whether it is safe to leave the United States.

• Can they travel home for a wedding?
• Visit a sick parent?
• Attend a funeral?
• Participate in overseas research?

Historically, these questions rarely required extensive legal analysis.

Today, students routinely worry about visa renewals, administrative processing delays, secondary inspection at ports of entry and the possibility that immigration rules may change while they are abroad.

As a result, some postpone travel altogether.

For young adults who may already be living thousands of miles from family and support networks, the emotional consequences can be significant.

Immigration uncertainty is a mental health issue

University leaders increasingly recognise that immigration uncertainty is not merely a legal issue. It is also a mental health issue.

International students frequently navigate academic pressure, financial sacrifice, family expectations, cultural adjustment, language barriers and social isolation simultaneously. Immigration uncertainty compounds each of these challenges.

Students follow developments involving visas, employment authorisation, travel restrictions, court decisions, enforcement actions and proposed regulations. Many worry about international travel. Others worry about future sponsorship opportunities. Some worry that the rules governing their future may change before they have the opportunity to benefit from them.

What universities are increasingly observing is not simply concern about immigration status. They are observing chronic uncertainty.

What universities are hearing

When I speak with international students today, their questions increasingly sound less like immigration questions and more like questions about stability.

• Can I finish my degree?
• Can I work after graduation?
• Can I travel safely?
• Will I be able to remain in the country if I receive a job offer?
• Will I be able to become a permanent resident?
• Will the rules change again?
• Will America still be a place where I can build my future?

Those questions reveal something important. International students are not only evaluating universities. They are evaluating predictability, opportunity and confidence in the future.

The United States remains home to many of the world’s finest institutions of higher education. It continues to attract extraordinary talent from around the globe. But talent is mobile. Students have choices.

If America wishes to remain the destination of choice for global talent, attracting students is only part of the challenge.

The larger challenge may be ensuring that those students feel secure enough to invest their futures here.

Richard T Herman is an immigration attorney, entrepreneur and co-author of Immigrant, Inc.: Why immigrant entrepreneurs are driving the new economy. For more than three decades, he has represented immigrants, founders, researchers, physicians, investors and families navigating US immigration law and has spoken nationally on immigration, economic development, entrepreneurship and demographic renewal. Richard is regularly quoted by The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, NPR, Bloomberg, Forbes and numerous international media outlets on immigration law, workforce development, innovation and economic competitiveness.

This article is a commentary. Commentary articles are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of University World News.