[81alum]

The news about foreign students is coming down on our head like a ton of bricks, with many confusing and unforeseen (or cynically seen) consequences.

For non immigrant foreign students to enroll in class at American Universities, they need F1 or M1 visas.  As I understand it, without those visas they cannot enroll in college classes.

The new rule is as follows:

Temporary exemptions for the fall 2020 semester include:

1. Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. 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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.

2. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.

3. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model—that is, a mixture of online and in person classes—will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. These schools 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 required to make normal progress in their degree program.The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses.

What will be the effect of this?  I worry deeply that our foreign students who have not already started classes will be unable to get a visa.  But it means that we will have to adopt the "hybrid model" and make sure that our foreign students have a plausible number of in-person classes.  And that will hold regardless of how the pandemic heats up, and whether medical professionals think it wise to have in-person classes or not.

I can also explain the cynical reasons behind this order, but that would take me into politics.

[81alum]

The news about foreign students is coming down on our head like a ton of bricks, with many confusing and unforeseen (or cynically seen) consequences.

For non immigrant foreign students to enroll in class at American Universities, they need F1 or M1 visas.  As I understand it, without those visas they cannot enroll in college classes.

The new rule is as follows:

Temporary exemptions for the fall 2020 semester include:

1. Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States. The U.S. 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 U.S. Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States. Active students currently in the United States enrolled in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status. If not, they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.

2. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools operating under normal in-person classes are bound by existing federal regulations. Eligible F students may take a maximum of one class or three credit hours online.

3. Nonimmigrant F-1 students attending schools adopting a hybrid model—that is, a mixture of online and in person classes—will be allowed to take more than one class or three credit hours online. These schools 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 required to make normal progress in their degree program.The above exemptions do not apply to F-1 students in English language training programs or M-1 students pursing vocational degrees, who are not permitted to enroll in any online courses.

What will be the effect of this?  I worry deeply that our foreign students who have not already started classes will be unable to get a visa.  But it means that we will have to adopt the "hybrid model" and make sure that our foreign students have a plausible number of in-person classes.  And that will hold regardless of how the pandemic heats up, and whether medical professionals think it wise to have in-person classes or not.

I can also explain the cynical reasons behind this order, but that would take me into politics.