Jalandhar, May 29 -- Hundreds of aspirants in Punjab are jittery after the United States administration put an embargo on student visa interviews. The students aspiring to study in US colleges and universities have now started looking for other countries as alternative options. US is among the most preferred destinations for Indian students looking to study abroad, second only to Canada. On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered US embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the Donald Trump administration was weighing stricter vetting of applicants' social-media profiles. Jalandhar resident Priyansh Sharma says he had cracked the English proficiency test required for getting admission in US universities and colleges but is now unsure about how to proceed. "I was planning to go for a four-year pharmacy programme and was looking for a university or college. However, after Tuesday's decision, my parents have asked me to look for other options," Sharma said. According to the information available, the US granted 86,110 visas to Indian students in 2024 and 1.3 lakh visas in 2023. In 2022, nearly 1.16 Indian students were granted US visas for higher education. On Indians studying abroad, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Lok Sabha in the 2024 monsoon session that 13.3 lakh Indian students were residing overseas, of which 4.27 lakh were in Canada and 3.36 lakh in the US. Another student, Ridhima, says she was interested in applying for a computer science degree for September intake, but has to change her plans. "We are hoping that the interviews will open soon for the welfare of the students who desire to emigrate to the US to fulfil their dreams," she said. Amarjit Singh, managing director (MD) of Jalandhar-based Broadways Immigration, said this is not the first time that the US has stopped scheduling interviews for students. He added that such measures were taken by the US State department in the past well. "The students should not panic as it is a temporary pause. However, the aspirants should know that their social-media accounts are going to play a crucial role in getting visas," he said. He added it is likely that the US will open interviews once they train the visa officers on the changes....