It marks the latest step in an ongoing effort to reduce wait times and improve a process that critics say can be opaque and bureaucratic. 

“[International] students are a huge priority for the Department of State, we know how important they are [and] culturally, academically, economically what they bring to the United States,” said Sarah Steward, a visa analyst in the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the US State Department. 

“We do not want the visa appointment to be the barrier between a qualified student and getting to the United States.”

Steward spoke to a packed room at the 2024 EducationUSA Forum, a gathering of some 500 higher education professionals hosted by the State Department to promote international education between the US and countries around the world.

In the 2023 fiscal year, almost 609,000 student visas were issued – more than any year since 2016, according to Steward. 

Some 42 missions issued more student visas last fiscal year than they have in two decades, including 140,500 from India. 

At 40,000, more African student visas were issued than ever before, with Nigerian nationals representing the highest share.

“We are issuing record-breaking numbers of student visas — we’re seeing huge demand,” said Steward.

Over a million international students are studying in the U.S. today, according to EducationUSA, contributing USD$40.1 billion to the economy in the 2022/23 academic year.

Steward outlined a series of changes the state department has made to ease the application process and reduce wait times amidst large backlogs, including making permanent (until further notice) the state department’s new interview waiver authority. 

This gives consular offices the ability to waive an in-person interview at their discretion for certain non-immigration visas, including student visas.

The State Department has also updated its guidance on several key areas for international students, including that their residency requirements and long term plans should be evaluated differently than other applicants.

“We’re really hammering that home with our consular officers, to really take a broader view — it’s not reasonable to expect an 18-year-old who’s going to the United States for four years to have a really concrete plan on what they’re going to do five years from now,” said Steward. 

The Department has also issued guidance to embassy staff that attending a community college or an English-as-a-second-language program cannot be grounds for denying a visa application, encouraging staff not to consider the particular institution but instead the reasoning behind a student’s decision to study in the United States.

It’s also made several technical updates in recent years, including clarifying who can produce documentation for a student’s reduced course load and making it possible for school officials to sign and submit forms I-20 electronically. 

It will continue to accept mail documents through Sept. 30 as they work towards a fully digital transition.

“We definitely want to make sure that we’re getting quality students into the US, making sure that they’re here for the right reasons, studying for the right reasons and looking to expand our economy,” Bryan Newman, a management and program analyst with the Student Exchange Visitor Program told the room, adding that international students are important to the federal government and to the economy.

For many attendees, however, these efforts pale in comparison to the challenges of getting accepted students through the application process and onto American campuses every fall. 

Unprecedented demand has also meant unprecedented denials. In 2023, 36% of international students had their visas denied. 

Dr Stacye Thompson, the coordinator of international student services at Jefferson State Community Colleges, said these changes are “token” given the scale of the problems. 

In her experiences, the system often seem arbitrary and unevenly applied. Students often tell her they’ve been denied a visa without an explanation and sometimes without an interview, she said.

When they are interviewed, they struggle to make their case in just a minute or two.

While Thompson said there isn’t data around community college student visa denials versus those at four-year institutions, she believes the former group is much less likely to get a visa approved. She also noted that students across Africa face disproportionate denials.

Students across much of the continent experience denial rates of over 60 percent, according to a 2024 report. 

“Students from the continent of Africa are applying three, four times,” Thompson said to Steward. “If there was a more direct answer that might help your backlogs too.” 

Her concerns, which elicited a round of applause from the crowd, were shared by many higher education professionals in attendance.

“I’ve seen these continued troubles with trying to recruit and enroll students from across the African continent,” said Lawrence Mur’ray, the executive director of admissions and financial Aid at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

One audience member noted that the wait time for a visa appointment in Ghana is currently 361 days. While students can request an expedited appointment if their program starts within 60 days, many students are scared off by the lengthy waits. 

Mur’ray estimated that last year almost 30% of their Nigerian students had their visas denied, with students often telling him that financial or debt concerns were cited – a frustrating reason, said Mur’ray given that graduates of Tuck have high employment rates and salaries after graduating. 

“We’re missing out on the opportunity to get these very bright and talented students to have a transformational experience at our institutions and to gain content, knowledge, and experience, and then to be able to go back and help their countries and contribute to their own communities,” said Mur’ray, adding that these experiences are a public relations concern for the country.

He added that better communication of expectations and more consistent application of those expectations will make for better experiences for consular officers, students, and universities. 

“We’re really looking at the big picture of ‘does it make sense’, so there’s no one size fits all answer for every individual student,” said Steward, adding that while American embassies are on the same standards across the world, lagging economic growth or political instability in the face of a huge demand for US visas can impact refusal rates. 

Students also may be evaluated based on how many people of their nationality have overstayed their visas in the past.

There are some basics that Steward said students should be prepared to answer at an interview, including why that institution, why the US, and how they’re planning to finance their studies. 

As hard as it may be, Steward encouraged students not to get nervous in the interviews, lest they clam up in the extremely short period of time they have to make their case. If students don’t understand a question, especially if English is their second language, they can ask the official to repeat themselves.

She also stressed the importance of a neutral picture, without glasses or a filter. Any additional documentation, such as a recommendation letter, unless explicitly requested could result in processing delays.

“It’s not fun to deny someone a visa and we do know, we are so keenly aware that this may be the only time this person ever talks to an American,” said Steward.