When 25-year-old Charan (name changed), a Master’s student from Telangana, saw his SEVIS record terminated in early April, he panicked. Convinced he could be detained or deported due to a minor dispute with a housemate that never became a formal case, he booked a flight and left Texas for Hyderabad. Ten days later, his SEVIS — or Student and Exchange Visitor Information System — status quietly flipped back to “active.”
“I refreshed the page three times before I believed it,” he said. “But now I’m stuck in India. My visa is still revoked. I don’t know how to return,” according to Indian Express.
SEVIS is a federal database that governs the legal status of international students in the US. A termination often renders a student “out of status,” triggering fears of deportation. But in late April, SEVIS records for dozens of students — most of them Indian — began to be restored, even in cases involving minor infractions or charges that had been dropped.
While this reversal has offered some relief, the path back remains blocked for students who voluntarily left the US. Their F-1 visas, once revoked, are still invalid — and must be reissued through fresh applications and interviews.
According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Indian nationals account for nearly 50% of the 327 F-1 visa revocations recorded in recent months. The SEVIS reinstatements, experts say, were driven not by policy shifts but by legal pressure from mounting lawsuits.
“Even students with jaywalking tickets saw their SEVIS records terminated,” said Rahul Reddy, an immigration attorney based in Houston. “Courts were not pleased. That’s what forced the government to act. But the visa revocations were never challenged — and so they stand.”
Students caught in this limbo include those on Optional Practical Training (OPT) and even those recently selected in the H-1B visa lottery. Many say they were advised to leave by university officials or immigration influencers, citing fears of detention by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
A 26-year-old woman from Hyderabad, who had completed her Master’s from Cleveland State University, saw her SEVIS record terminated and visa revoked in early April over a dismissed shoplifting charge. “I flew home in fear. Now I have no visa and haven’t even told my parents,” she said.
In another case, a 27-year-old student on STEM OPT was told to leave by his employer after being accused of selling alcohol to a minor. “My SEVIS came back. My visa didn’t,” he said.
The US State Department confirmed the disconnect in response to queries from The Indian Express. “Visas and SEVIS are distinct,” a spokesperson said. “SEVIS is managed by the Department of Homeland Security. Visas are adjudicated by the Department of State. Reinstating a SEVIS record does not reinstate a visa.”
This technical split has left many students, including those with no pending charges, stranded in their home countries despite maintaining legal status in the US database. They now face the difficult decision of whether to apply for new visas — with no guarantee of approval.
“We don’t know what to do — reapply, wait, or join lawsuits,” said a 26-year-old student from Delaware. “Everyone told us to leave. Now SEVIS is active again, but we’re still stuck.”
For many, the emotional toll is immense. “I followed every rule,” said Charan. “But the system treated me like I didn’t belong.”