Foreign students in US fret over being sent home after new visa rule

Foreign students in the US  fret over being sent home after the visa rule announced by the Trump Administration.

Hundreds of thousands of international students in the United States on F-1 and M-1 Visas might have to leave the country mid-pandemic if their schools go completely online.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a press release on Monday said that for the fall 2020 semester students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the US.

The US Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programmes that are fully online for the fall semester nor will US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States, the release said referring to the September to December semester.

Fall 2020 semester begins early September in the US, immediately after Labor Day weekend.

For many students after getting back home and continue with remote learning means that they have to attend classes in the middle of the night due to time zone differences and dealing with spotty or no internet access, losing funding contingent on teaching, or having to stop participating in research.

According to the news agency, who spoke with many of the international students in the US, some of them are considering taking time off or leaving their programs entirely.

The international students enrolled in academic programmes at US universities and colleges study on an F-1 Visa.

Meanwhile, those students enrolled in technical programmes at vocational or other recognised nonacademic institutions, other than a language training programme come to the US on an M-1 Visa.