In a move that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students, the US immigration authority has announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press release on Monday 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.
Meanwhile, India on Tuesday raised with the US its decision to withdraw US visas from foreign students if their universities switch to online-only classes, official sources said. The issue was raised by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during an online meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.
The sources said the US side took note of it and said they will keep the best interests of the Indian students in mind and would try and mitigate the impact of the decision.
“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.