US student visa: Relief for students holding F1 and M1 Visas, Check details here

US Visa Cancellation: According to a recent announcement, the international students studying in the United State of America were asked to return to their country if physical classes are not being conducted. The students were informed by the administration that the online courses were not sufficient for the students to stay in the US and they will have to leave or risk deportation in case they do not attend the physical classes. 

The students who hold an F1 and M1 Visa have however been provided with a relief that the authorities will temporarily be modifying some rules. The students are required to report to their respective departments and embassies and could continue to live on the F1 and M1 Visas until further decisions are made. The US Administration has not asked the students to leave the country immediately and the decision is valid for all the international students and not just Indian students.

ICE Issued Statement Confirming the Move

As per reports, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a statement recently which said that foreign students whose academic courses have been transformed into online learning programmes will not be allowed to stay back in the US. The statement said that students who are part of educational programmes being offered in the US under the "Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students visa norms’ for whom their attending schools have transformed the course structure completely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States.”

Students Allowed to Change Schools to In-Person Courses

The statement also clarified that students who are part of completely online programmes or courses will be required to depart the US in the fall. Alternatively, such students opt to transfer their admission to a school with “in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,", said the ICE statement. For students who remain in US despite being part of only online courses, may be subjected to “immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings."

No Clarity from Universities So Far

With the situation around COVID-19 pandemic getting more severe by the day in the US, Universities and higher education institutions are yet to provide any clarity about the courses that would be taught in completely online format. But, in the light of the pandemic, many universities have announced plan to take a significant number of courses online with Harvard University leading the charge with nearly 40% of total courses being offered virtually. In such scenario, the decision to withdraw student visas to foreign students enrolled into online courses may affect lakhs of students.

As per data of 2018-19, there were more than one million international students studying at universities across the US; of these majority were granted admission on the basis of F-1 visa which allows students to pursue academic coursework and M-1 visa, which allows students to pursue "vocational coursework.”