As per the sources, US is to withdraw student visa for foreign students, who are registered into programs which have been adapted into completely online training courses by their respective universities in view of Coronavirus pandemic.
To uphold the development, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement published a statement on Monday. The agency also announced that for Fall Semester, students who are enrolled in only online courses will not be issued student visas, and US Customs and Border Protection will not allow these students to enter the United States.
ICE issued a statement of confirmation that students can stay in their native and attend online classes
As per documents, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement recently which said that foreign students whose educational courses have been transformed into online learning programs will not be permitted to stay back in the US. The statement said the educational programs being given in the US under the “Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students visa norms’ for whom their attending schools have altered the course structure completely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States.
Pupils allow changing school to In-person Courses
The statement also explained that students who are part of totally online programs or courses will be required to depart the US in the fall. Alternatively, such students opt to switch their admission to a school with “in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,”, said the ICE statement. For students who continue to live in the US despite being part of only online courses, maybe accountable to immigration impacts including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.
No clear say from Universities till now
With the crisis around COVID-19 pandemic getting more serious by the day in the US, Universities and higher education institutions are yet to deliver any clarity about the courses that would be taught in a completely online layout. But, in the light of the pandemic, many universities have declared a plan to take a significant amount of courses online with Harvard University leading the charge with nearly 40% of total courses being offered virtually. In such a procedure, the decision to withdraw student visas to foreign students enrolled in online courses may impact the lakhs of students.
