The Indian students who are studying in the US will soon be subject to more scrutiny and visa limitations considering the continuous change in rules implemented by the Donald Trump administration.
US Tightens F1 Visa Rules
It appears that the Department of Homeland Security has planned changes that are expected to make it more difficult for foreign journalists, exchange visitors, and international students to pursue education, work, or report from the US.
Interestingly, this expanding list of changes now includes new restrictions on changing colleges or courses, as well as more restrictions on the length of a visa and the OPT grace period.
According to this, the new immigrants will only be permitted to transfer colleges after finishing one year of study under the recently restricted F1 student visa scheme.
This news is for Indian students who are considering fall admission to the US as they may probably be affected by the rule, which is anticipated to be fully enforced in the next month or two.
Besides this, the new system will decrease the post-OPT grace period for overseas students further forcing the students who desire to earn a second degree to secure a new visa.
Although there are few exceptions, the Department of Homeland Security’s suggested modifications will guarantee that undergraduate students on an F-1 visa cannot alter their major or program during their initial academic year of study.
This would restrict the graduate students as once they are admitted, they are not permitted to change their program or field of study in any manner on the same visa.
Similarly, the students who have finished a program at a particular level are not permitted to enroll in a different one at the same or lower level on an F-1 visa.
Fixed-term F1 Visas Based On Their Educational Attainment
In addition to this the flexible mechanism that now determines visa duration based on program length will also be eliminated.
The students will now receive fixed-term F1 visas based on their educational attainment instead.
It is anticipated that the students pursuing an F1 visa will also be subject to more scrutiny during the application process.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has instructed agents to review each application’s conduct, immigration history, familial relationships, and any affiliation with terrorist or anti-American beliefs as per the reports.
These new guidelines will hugely affect the visa as it will decide if it may be denied or revoked for endorsing, promoting, or supporting terrorist organizations or anti-American or antisemitic views.
The officers are supposed to use discretionary analysis, which involves balancing both positive and negative elements while granting student visas.
