Indian Students Get Twice As Many US Student Visas As China.

China remains the top overall source of international students to America. Still, Indians have almost twice the number of student visas as the Chinese in the first 7 months of this year, showing an analysis of non-immigrant visas issued by the US State Department up to July.

A total of 77,799 Indian students received F-1 visas from January to July this year, while 46,145 got the visa in China, the report said.

The F-1 visa is issued for a US university or college, high school, private elementary school, or other academic institutions. The US also issues M-1 visas for international students who wish to study at vocational or other recognized non-academic institutions besides language training programs. This report by IE has only taken F-1 visas into account.

In 2021, 99,431 Chinese students got F-1 visas, while from India, 87,258 got the visa, and from South Korea, 16,865. The figures were significantly hit in 2020 due to Covid-prompted lockdowns in different nations and China's severe movement restrictions on its citizens.

The US economy benefits greatly from international students; in 2019, before the pandemic, foreign citizens studying in the US contributed $44 billion to the nation's economy. Out of this, $16 billion came from Chinese students and nearly $8 billion from Indians.