United States President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered its embassies overseas to stop scheduling new visa interview appointments for college students and change guests, in response to an inside cable seen by information businesses on Tuesday.
Within the memo, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the pause is in place as a result of the State Division plans to increase the screening of pupil candidates’ social media.
Right here is all we learn about what this pause may imply.
What occurred?
Rubio signed a cable, obtained by a number of information businesses, asking US embassies everywhere in the world to pause new visa interviews for overseas college students.
The cable says: “The Division is conducting a assessment of present operations and processes for screening and vetting of pupil and change customer (F, M, J) visa candidates, and based mostly on that assessment, plans to difficulty steerage on expanded social media vetting for all such candidates.
“Efficient instantly, in preparation for an enlargement of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections mustn’t add any further pupil or change customer visa appointment capability.”
Most worldwide college students maintain the F-1 pupil visa. The J-1 visa is granted to college students in change or scholarship programmes such because the Fulbright fellowship; professors taking part in change programmes; and interns. The M-1 visa is granted to college students taking part in coaching programmes within the US.
A US official instructed The Related Press on the situation of anonymity that the halt is short-term and doesn’t apply to college students who’ve already scheduled their visa interviews. It’s unclear how lengthy the halt is for.
Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson for the US State Division, declined to touch upon stories of the memo, however she instructed reporters at a daily information briefing that the US will utilise “each software” to display screen anybody who needs to enter the nation.
“We are going to proceed to make use of each software we are able to to evaluate who it’s that’s coming right here, whether or not they’re college students or in any other case,” Bruce stated on Tuesday.
What number of overseas college students go to the US every year?
Throughout the 2023-2024 tutorial yr, the variety of worldwide college students in US establishments grew to an all-time excessive of 1.13 million, in response to the annual Open Doorways report from the Institute of Worldwide Schooling (IIE) and the US State Division. This quantity marks a 6.6 p.c enhance within the variety of worldwide college students enrolled in US schools and universities from the yr earlier than.
Which nations do these college students come from?
In response to the Open Doorways report, 71.5 p.c of the worldwide college students enrolled within the US between 2023 and 2024 have been from Asia.
India was the highest supply, with 331,602 college students from the nation enrolled in US universities. Following India was China, which despatched 277,398 college students to the US. In third place is South Korea, which despatched 43,149 college students to the US.
Europe despatched 90,600 college students to the US, making up 8 p.c of the worldwide pupil inhabitants.
Which universities admit most overseas college students
Amid a wider standoff with Harvard, the Trump administration revoked the university’s approval for enrolling worldwide college students final week. Harvard at the moment has 6,800 worldwide college students who account for about 27 p.c of its pupil inhabitants.
Worldwide college students make up related proportions of the campus inhabitants at different main universities.
At Yale, Northwestern College and New York College, 22 p.c of the scholar physique comes from outdoors the US. The quantity is increased on the College of Rochester, the place worldwide college students represent 30 p.c of the whole pupil physique.
In response to the Open Doorways report, NYU had 27,247 worldwide college students between 2023 and 2024, the very best of US universities. Northeastern College was in second place with 21,023 worldwide college students and Columbia College got here in third with 20,321 college students.
Are most US pupil visas issued by this level?
It’s unclear what number of college students hoping to affix tutorial programmes at US universities this fall (autumn) can be affected by the pause that the State Division is instituting, per the memo.
Most US universities announce admissions selections by late March or early April. Fulbright broadcasts their ultimate selections on a rolling foundation between March to June. College students sometimes apply for his or her pupil visa after they obtain their admissions determination. It takes wherever between just a few weeks to a couple months for candidates to obtain their visas after submitting their purposes.
The US State Division web site says that F-1 pupil visas will be issued as much as three hundred and sixty five days earlier than the beginning date of the programme, however college students can solely enter not more than 30 days earlier than the beginning date.
What occurs to college students within the US who have to renew visas?
It’s unclear whether or not or not the pause will have an effect on college students already within the US who want their visas prolonged or renewed.
The F-1 pupil visa is usually granted for a five-year interval and the renewal course of is identical as the appliance course of, the place candidates have to fill out a web based kind and schedule an interview at a US embassy outdoors the US.
Whereas undergraduate programmes are sometimes 4 years lengthy, PhDs can vary from three to eight years. Many PhD students subsequently have to renew their US visa in the course of their programme. Worldwide college students ending one diploma and making use of for an additional diploma within the US, comparable to college students graduating from a bachelor’s diploma and making use of for a masters, may have to renew their US visa as effectively.
What’s behind this newest Trump administration transfer?
That is the Trump administration’s newest step in the direction of cracking down on US universities, notably worldwide college students who confirmed assist for Palestinians in Gaza over the previous yr.
In early March, Ranjani Srinivasan, 37, a PhD candidate in city planning at Columbia College, had her pupil visa revoked by the US State Division. Her visa was legitimate till 2029. Talking to Al Jazeera later in March, Srinivasan stated that she was focused for her speech and restricted social media exercise. On her social media, she had posted and shared content material vital of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Moreover, she had signed a number of open letters supporting Palestinian rights.
Srinivasan stated she was by no means a part of any organised campus group and whereas she was part of pro-Palestine protests previously, she was not current within the US in April 2024, when the campus encampments have been rattling the Columbia campus.
“If supporting the concept of human rights or ending a genocide is equated with supporting Hamas, then anybody in proximity to me – with out me having achieved something – can simply be picked up and made an instance of,” Srinivasan instructed Al Jazeera.
