US says screening does not stop at visa approval, warns it will deport those who break laws

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The United States on Saturday said that its visa screening process does not stop after a permit is issued and that it continuously checks all holders to ensure that they are following the country's laws and immigration rules.
'We will revoke their visas and deport them if they don't,' the US Embassy in India stated.
A day earlier, the embassy said that ' falsifying or omitting information can lead to visa denial and future visa ineligibility'.
In a video, it asked students and exchange programme applicants to list all their social media handles used in the past five years on their visa forms.
'If you omit your social media information, it could lead to a visa denial, and you might become ineligible for future visas,' said the embassy.
This comes amid the Donald Trump administration's crackdown on international students.
On May 27, Washington instructed its embassies globally to halt student visa interviews until further notice.
Since the interviews resumed in June, all student and exchange visitor visa applicants globally have been required to make their social media profiles public. The change was aimed at enabling background checks during the visa screening process to establish applicants' 'identity and admissibility', the US embassy in New Delhi had said.
Since 2019, the US has required visa applicants to submit social media identifiers, the diplomatic mission added in a statement.
Washington has also taken aggressive actions to try to enforce its demands on universities, including freezing hundreds of millions of dollars in university funding, revoking visas and attempting to deport international students. However, many of these measures have been blocked by the courts.
U.S. visa screening does not stop after a visa is issued. We continuously check visa holders to ensure they follow all U.S. laws and immigration rules – and we will revoke their visas and deport them if they don't. pic.twitter.com/jV1o6ETRg4
— U.S. Embassy India (@USAndIndia) July 12, 2025
More than 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US universities during the academic year 2023-'24, accounting for 6% of those pursuing higher education in the country, according to the US-based non-governmental organisation Institute of International Education.
India sent the highest number of students, followed by China, it added.
However, recent data from the US State Department showed that the number of student visas issued to Indians between March and May was at its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic year 2022.
The number of F-1 visas issued to Indians between March and May decreased by about 27% compared to the same period in 2024.
An F-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows students from other countries to study in the US.
The period between March and May is considered to be a busy period for student visa applications as the fall intake, which is the preferred entry point for most international students, begins in August and September at most US universities.