Indian student denied US visa despite ₹89 lakh scholarship, he says it's about social media vetting

Kaushik Raj had secured admission to the MS in Data Journalism. The programme was scheduled to start on August 15, but his visa was rejected the same month.

Kaushik Raj, an Indian student and journalist who earned a place at the prestigious Columbia University in the US, plus a $100,000 scholarship, was denied a visa by the American administration.

Kaushik Raj has secured admission to MS in Data Journalism at Columbia University.(Kaushik Raj and Reuters)

Raj, a freelance reporter, had secured admission to the Ivy League institution's MS in Data Journalism. The post-graduate programme was scheduled to start on August 15; however, his visa was rejected the same month.

“The visa application took a lot of time. The US government had briefly stopped issuing student visas, and when it resumed there were no appointment slots available. I managed to get a slot after trying for 10 days,” Raj told HT over the phone.

US President Donald Trump, soon after coming to power, ordered the American embassies to stop scheduling new visa interview appointments for students. Though the Trump administration resumed the process a month later, applications have since significantly dipped.

'Rejection part of social media vetting'

Raj has claimed that the reason behind the visa refusal was linked to the social media vetting.

"The (visa) interview took place on July 29 and they handed me a slip to make my social media public. On August 4, the application status showed that my application was refused. But, on August 11, it changed to administrative processing and it turned back to 'refused' on August 14," Raj said.

Student visa arrivals to the US fell to a four-year low in August 2025 due to a 50% drop from India. Overall student arrivals dropped 19% year-on-year to about 313,000 in August 2025 in the fifth consecutive month of decline, data from the International Trade Administration showed.

What rejection letter said

Kaushik Raj said that when he collected his passport, he got a rejection letter stating: "You were not able to demonstrate that your intended activities in the United States would be consistent with the classification of the nonimmigrant visa for which you applied."

HT reviewed a copy of the letter.

It added: “You have not demonstrated that you have the ties that will compel you to return to your home country after your travel to the United States.”

Raj said that the rejection letter was a mere "excuse" and added: "If they were not satisfied with my application, they could have refused during the interview. But they rejected me after asking me for my social media details."

US visa policy on social media

The US government had announced earlier this year that it will screen the social media activity of immigrants and visa applicants to identify those who pose threat to the US national security.

"We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to US national security. Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications," a US state department statement said.

Raj said, “I track hate crimes. I combine the trends on social media and its impact on the ground, especially those against minorities. A lot of my friends said that they (the US government) might have thought that I would do the same in the US.”

However, it was not stated that there was a direct link between Raj's visa approval and the US social media vetting policy.

For Raj, no money for 2024, no visa in 2025

Kaushik Raj said he had successfully made it to Columbia in 2023, but couldn't secure adequate funding to cover his study and expenses.

"I was selected in 2023 for 2024-2025 session, but I couldn't go because of inadequate funding. This time I got the finding, but the visa was refused," he said.

Raj said he had secured a funding of $100,000 ( ₹89 lakh) from Columbia for his studies.

When asked whether he would apply the next year, Raj said, "Columbia University has deferred my offer for next year. But I am not hopeful, since they would check my social media again. Maybe I would look into data journalism courses elsewhere."