Washington:

The US government is quietly scanning through thousands of temporary visas, checking whether foreigners lied about their real plans when they entered the country. Reports place the number of such visas — both tourism and business — close to 200,000, though the US State Department hasn’t confirmed it.

Asked by NDTV whether Indian nationals could be swept up in the review, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott didn’t dodge the point. A US visa, he said, is “not a right, but a privilege.”

According to the official, the Donald Trump administration is cracking down on “fraud and abuse” in the US visa system.

The State Department, along with the Department of Homeland Security, is looking for cases where someone entered on a temporary visa and later tried to stay — either by applying for asylum or through some other path to permanent status. The entire review turns on one question: did the person misrepresent their intentions from the start?

Pigott pointed out that a temporary visa is granted on the clear expectation that the visa holder will return home. 

We are cracking down on fraud and abuse in our visas system.

A temporary visa is granted on the clear expectation that the visa holder will return home. If someone lies to a consular officer about their true intent, that is fraud and grounds for revocation. pic.twitter.com/8r5BSTyFHy

— Tommy Pigott (@statedeptspox) August 26, 2026

“If an individual lies to a consular officer about their true intentions, that can constitute fraud and may result in the revocation of their visa,” Pigott told NDTV.

However, applying for asylum after arriving on a temporary visa isn’t automatically treated as fraud. What investigators are looking for is timing and honesty. They are checking whether the person had already decided to stay permanently before the visa interview and then concealed that from the officer reviewing their application.

The State Department did not offer any specific numbers of Indians on the watch list or singled out Indian applicants for extra scrutiny going forward. But it also hasn’t ruled anything out, either. 

An official said that the review is still unfolding and the figures “could change” as it progresses, with the process expected to move in phases rather than all at once.

Since Trump returned to the White House for a second term, his administration has been steadily tightening immigration enforcement, and this latest move seems to be an extension of that, with a renewed focus on whether people were truthful about their intentions the moment they applied.

The takeaway for anyone currently holding a US visa is straightforward: a visa doesn’t guarantee an indefinite stay. If the State Department decides someone misrepresented their intentions, their visa could be revoked, no matter how long they’ve already been in the country.