Now Students with M1 and F1 Visa Could be Asked to Leave US: Here’s What We Know

After banning the H1B visa, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has now announced a new rule that may impact students with M1 and F1 Visa. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced modifications on Monday to temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking online classes due to the pandemic for the fall 2020 semester.

The new rule says that non-immigrant students with M1 and F1 Visa “attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The US Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will the US Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States.”

Students who are already inside the US and have enrolled in such programs will either have to leave the country, or move to in-person tuitions to avoid deportation. While those students who are attending classes with a valid F1 Visa will not be impacted, students attending schools through a hybrid model, which is a mixture of online and in person classes would be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online.

Nevertheless, these educational institutions must certify to SEVP, through the Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” certifying that the program is not entirely online, that the student is not taking an entirely online course load this semester, and that the student is taking the minimum number of online classes, says the ICE website.

While more clarity on the matter is expected to come over the next few days, Indian students currently in the US seem to be worried about the decision. “I was supposed to get my F1 visa renewed in June. I couldn’t due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now all my classes are online. I’m really worried that I may be asked to leave,” said a student in the US to DataQuest on the condition of anonymity.

“This is just mean and short sighted. Some of our best came here on F1 visas. This means that we send home graduate and undergraduate students who most likely won’t come back. How is this making America great?,” said flyballshah on Twitter.