Mass Revocations of Student Visa & Its Impact on The Immigration Landscape

In recent times, more than 6000 student visas have faced revocation from the State Department under the Trump Administration. More than two-thirds of the student visas have been rejected due to overstays and other alleged law violations, such as assaults, DUI, Burglary, and allegations of terrorism.

According to sources, around 200-300 visas were revoked for ‘support of terrorism’ under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which bars foreign people from engaging in ‘terrorist’ or ‘anti-American activities’. As one of the leading EB-1A consultants, we are trying our best to stay updated on the current visa landscape. And, here you will get your best peek into all the crisscrossing transformations in the visa landscape.

What do we know about the revocation?

Fox News is the first on the line to report this revocation. They reported that the administration has engaged in this sweeping of visa rights as part of its broader efforts to reshape the U.S. immigration landscape. Students who fell victim to this revocation are usually students with legal status but without citizenship who participated in certain firebrand political protests. Some of these students have also set up encampments on the college campuses. The administration has interpreted their activities as inflammatory and anti-American behaviours. This revocation makes more sense with the following revision of the ‘Good moral character’ policy for the green card holders in America.

This revocation in the wider context

In late June, when the government began issuing student visas, they added a conditional proviso that the consulates would scan applicants’ social media as part of the process. This has made the entire process span a longer time window. Consequently, students who have yet to clear the interview process could run the risk of getting too late for the academic sessions starting this autumn. Previously, in late May, the U.S. president signed a proclamation barring foreign students from attending Harvard, citing security concerns. But, this order was legally overruled from taking effect.

In June, Trump signed yet another proclamation to bar 19 countries from entering the U.S. through existing immigration pathways. The reason was once again rising security concerns. Hence, we can safely assume that the current revocations did not take place in isolation and it is part of a wider pattern.

Who are we?

We are GCEB. For years, we have been providing dedicated ethical EB-1A mentorship for industry experts and people with extraordinary abilities. We also archive all the latest news and developments plaguing the visa landscape. You can get regular updates on visa & immigration news from our blog page. Bookmark it and stay tuned.