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The new F-1 visa rules in the United States are likely to impact at least 2,00,000 Indian students pursuing their education in the foreign country. The move has left them shaken and anxious about their future.
The US said it would not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall semester. They have to take hybrid classes – a combination of in-person and online modules – to continue to stay in the country. Failure to follow the new norms would mean deportation or even a ban from entering into the US.
“I really don’t know what to form my opinion on and what to think about this because at every given moment, there is this uncertainty. And uncertainty induces so much anxiety, especially on students,” said Jaskirat Panjrath, who is majoring in Design Communication at Parsons School of Design told The Quint.
Asvatha Babu, who is currently pursuing her PhD from American University in Washington feels that the international students are being used as a "bargaining chip."
Echoing her is Rayn Samson, who is pursuing his undergraduate degree at Reed College. Samson argued that Indian students are being forced to go back to the US, even those who have co-morbidities as they are at the risk of losing their visa status otherwise.
He also asserted that once he was in the US, his university could choose to shut down any time, in the light of the pandemic and then he would have to return.
Many students in the US, especially those pursuing graduate degrees, have fully-established families in the foreign country.
Students also feel that the new visa rules are deliberate and make them feel alienated from their American counterparts.
“I don’t exactly understand. Just because we are international students who don’t reside in the United States or have a passport from the United States, does that make us different from students who are from the United States? Why are we facing this discrimination,” asks Panjrath.
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