Covid-19 Pandemic & Immigration Rules Lead To A Drop-In Overseas Student Enrollment In the US

The United States has reported a dip of 18% in the International students enrolled in its various universities amid COVID-19 and a series of immigration-related directives.

The enrolment of international students in the U.S. dropped drastically due to a Covid 19 outbreak and a flurry of immigration-related guidelines issued by the former U.S. administration.

International student enrolments in the U.S. dip by 18 percent

A study conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) on March 21 revealed that the number of foreign enrolments in the United States dropped by 18 percent last year, to 1.25 million.

SEVP heads the Department of Homeland Security’s student visa monitoring system.

The visa tally for recently enrolled students dropped by 72% also F-1 student visas dipped by more than 90 % in August 2020.

The dip is reportedly a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a flurry of immigration-related guidelines from the former U.S. administration.

The F-1 visa is for full-time immigrant students who want to pursue academic coursework, while the M-1 visa sections include students in vocational and nonacademic programs.

Amid COVID-19, SEVP introduced a temporary exemption concerning online courses for the spring and summer semesters. This policy permitted nonimmigrant students to take more online courses than usually authorized by federal regulation.

U.S. consulates throughout the world suspended nearly all routine visa processing last spring, meaning enthusiastic students were not authorized to schedule the required personal interviews to be issued their visas.

Newly Enrolling International Students Can’t Come to the U.S. if Classes are Entirely Virtual.

The newly enrolling international students will not be allowed to come to the U.S. if their courses are taught entirely online, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The enrolling students can come on valid visas if their institutions certify that they plan to take at least one course in person for the fall term, and the new rules won’t apply to current students already enrolled at U.S. colleges and universities.

According to the update, International students who are already in the U.S. or are returning from abroad and already have visas will still be allowed to take classes entirely online even if they begin instruction in-person. Still, their institutions move online in the face of a worsening outbreak.

This policy strikes a blow to colleges a week after hundreds united to repulse a Trump administration policy that threatened to deport thousands of international students. This rule endeavored to bar all international students in the U.S. from taking classes entirely online this fall, even if their universities were forced to switch to fully online instruction amid an outbreak.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement figures include K-12 (kindergarten to grade 12) school students, college and university students, and those who are studying in vocational programs. The fallout spread across all degree levels and for students from around the world.

The report stated that there was prevailing uncertainty about 2021 looking much better, as many consulates and embassies remain closed or are processing visas only on an emergency basis.

According to the State Department, 43 out of 233 consular posts were operating at ample potential as of March 01, 2021.