USA International Students Face Deportation

International students who wish to commence study in the USA on F-1 and M-1 visas this fall will be denied entry into the country if teaching is online.

On Monday, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued the new rules to all educational institutions. It states that all students currently in their home nations will not be granted access into the United States if their universities teaching moves to online only for the fall semester. Harvard, one of the biggest academic institutions in the country, has already announced their plans to do so.

Those students who are currently residing in the US and whose classes move online risk losing their immigration status unless they are able to find and gain entry to an alternative course with in-person teaching. If this is not possible, they will be deported.

International students make up 5.5% of the total student population in American colleges and universities but the number has been steadily falling since 2017. The largest number of students come from China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. 

Overseas students are an important contributor to the US economy, paying on average of three times the tuition fee of their domestic counterparts. In 2018, they supplied an estimated $45bn.