New Delhi: The US is set to revoke business and tourist visas for at least 2 lakh immigrants seeking asylum, including over 70,000 Indians, the highest from any South Asian country. Upon being implemented, this will be the single largest mass cancellation of visas in American history.
The plan will target B1 and B2 visas issued within the past 10 years, The Associated Press reported. The visas are granted to people travelling to the United States for business, tourism or family visits.
Holders of B1 and B2 visas, issued between 2016 and 2026, who have sought asylum, or who are currently seeking asylum, will have their visas revoked, AP reported, citing State Department documents.
According to US officials, some immigrants use the visas to enter the country legally for short-term stays before filing asylum claims in an effort to remain permanently.
“Asylum isn’t supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws,” Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of State, wrote on X Monday. The State Department had by then not formally announced the policy.
“Obtaining a visa in order to seek asylum is fraud—which is grounds for visa revocation,” US State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
Indians accounted for by far the largest share of US non-immigrant visas issued in South Asia. Indians received 70,903 B1/B2 visitor visas in September 2025, more than 14 times the number issued to Pakistan.
Earlier this month, the administration announced a review of more than 55 million visa holders, resulting in the revocation of more than 1,75,000 visas belonging to foreign nationals who, the State Department said, had “violated the terms of their visas, committed crimes, called for violence against US citizens, defrauded Americans, abused our immigration system, or endangered national security.”
Thousands of foreign students also lost their visas between January and August 2025. Secretary of state Marco Rubio said the number exceeded 6,000.
A White House post on X Tuesday acknowledged the AP report
“Set to revoke up to TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND visas. US sets for largest mass visa revocation in history,” the post said.
Set to revoke up to TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND visas 🔥 pic.twitter.com/K0mnxpXvla
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2026
Trump 2.0 had previously taken steps aimed at restricting the use of B1 and B2 visas. Last month, the State Department made a pilot programme requiring applicants from 50 countries to post visa bonds of as much as $20,000 permanently.
Trump 2.0’s visa noose
Visas have become a central part of the Trump administration’s effort to restrict immigration and increase scrutiny of foreigners entering the United States.
The proposed action against B1 and B2 visa holders would extend that campaign to a much larger group, potentially affecting people whose visas were issued years before the current administration and who later sought asylum in the United States.
Two US officials told the AP that many pending asylum cases involving people who hold B1 or B2 visas would be recategorised and that the immigrants could lose their legal status but the move would not result in immediate deportations.
The administration’s broader immigration campaign has already produced a series of legal confrontations. Last week, a federal judge in New York struck down Marco Rubio’s proposed visa ban affecting people from 75 countries. The State Department had described the measure as targeting immigrants from countries considered at “High Risk of US Public Benefits Reliance”.
The department said the revoked visas belonged to people it considered a threat to public safety or national interests, including individuals accused of crimes, endorsing violence against Americans, arranging illegal birth-tourism schemes or committing fraud.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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