Visa processing bottlenecks have emerged as the single biggest obstacle for international students seeking to study in the United States, according to the latest Open Doors 2025 report. The comprehensive survey reveals that an overwhelming majority of American colleges are experiencing significant declines in foreign student enrolment directly due to visa-related issues.
Visa Problems Dominate International Admissions
The institutional survey accompanying the Open Doors 2025 report presents startling statistics about the impact of visa complications on US higher education. 96% of colleges identified visa denials and processing delays as the primary reason for declining new international enrolments for the 2025-26 academic cycle.
Travel restrictions emerged as the second most significant factor, mentioned by 68% of educational institutions. The pattern has become predictable for university administrators: students receive admission offers, obtain their Form I-20, enter the SEVIS system, but then find themselves stranded outside the United States as their visa applications get stuck in processing limbo.
Deferrals Become the Safety Valve
Faced with this systemic challenge, American universities have increasingly turned to international student deferrals as their primary coping mechanism. A deferral allows an admitted international student to postpone their start date and join a later intake without having to reapply through the entire admissions process again.
The report demonstrates how extensively colleges have adopted this approach:
- 72% of institutions are permitting deferrals to spring 2026
- 56% are extending them to fall 2026
- Institutions report a 39% rise in deferrals compared with the previous year
Alongside these deferral policies, 37% of colleges now offer additional flexibility measures such as allowing students to begin their first term online or join the academic term late. Together, these approaches form what amounts to a parallel admissions track designed to maintain student connections despite visa uncertainties.
Institutional Impact and Response Strategies
The immediate trigger for this shift remains the visa process itself. The Open Doors survey specifically identifies long processing times, 221(g) administrative reviews, and 214(b) denials as recurring sources of disruption. For many affected students, these delays occur after they have already committed substantial funds, arranged housing, or withdrawn from other educational options.
The downstream effect on American colleges has been substantial. New international enrolments have fallen by 17% in the current snapshot, and 57% of colleges report declines on their own campuses. Beyond the immediate drop in new students, universities face the additional challenge of not knowing when accepted students will actually arrive on campus.
Deferrals provide universities with a tool to manage this volatility. Instead of losing entire student cohorts completely, institutions can shift students forward by one term or one year, thereby maintaining continuity in both enrolment planning and revenue projections.
Broader Implications for International Education
The Early Fall 2025 Snapshot, which tracks real-time trends, shows a 1% decline in total international student numbers but a much sharper 17% drop in new starters. In this challenging context, deferrals have evolved from being simple accommodations to becoming integral components of the admissions infrastructure.
Universities now use deferrals to keep offers open while visa processing catches up. Students depend on them to avoid losing hard-earned admission spots. Federal data indicates that underlying demand remains robust, with the report recording 1.2 million international students in the US, representing a 5% increase from the previous year.
The fundamental tension lies in the mismatch between sustained student demand and practical access. Deferrals currently serve as the crucial bridge spanning this gap. What began as an occasional courtesy for exceptional circumstances has transformed into a broad-based institutional strategy.
Colleges are deploying deferrals because the alternative would be a steady erosion of new international enrolments driven by factors beyond their control. Students are accepting deferrals because their alternatives involve starting over in another country or losing an entire academic year.
As long as 96% of institutions continue to connect falling enrolments directly to visa delays, deferrals will remain less of an optional choice and more of a structural necessity. They function as an improvised safety net that holds the international admissions system together while other components struggle to maintain pace.
