Originally Posted: 4/28/2025 | Last Updated: 4/28/2025
In a federal court hearing on April 25th, the Trump administration announced it was reversing the cancellation of more than 1,500 F-1 visas, noting also that it is in the process of creating a new policy framework for executing these types of actions. This update was reported by Justice Department lawyer, Joseph Carilli, who stated that immigration officials are developing a new policy framework for reviewing and terminating visas for international students. Carilli also confirmed that agencies would not make any further changes or revocations until that process is complete.
This announcement followed a wave of lawsuits filed by international students who were notified unexpectedly that their visa status in the U.S. was being rescinded. Many of these revocations were based on minor traffic violations or similar infractions, while others offered no explanation and no obvious cause for cancellation of their F-1 status. These stories gained widespread media attention and raised significant concern about the potential for unfair and arbitrary visa revocations.
While the news of the Trump administration restoring hundreds of F-1 visas and pausing the actions that were unfairly impacting those visa holders has eased some of the concern surrounding these issues, this relief may be temporary. As noted above, the administration is in the process of creating a new policy framework for SEVIS record terminations (i.e., cancellation of F-1 status). This suggests some changes can be expected once that work is complete. However, no further information has been provided on what the new framework might entail or when it will be implemented.
As always, we will keep a close eye on the situation and update this post with any new information as soon as we know more.
