Latest news with #embassies
Fox News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump State Dept announces new student-visa vetting will be ongoing process, not one-time check
State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce indicated Thursday that the increased scrutiny the Trump administration is placing on foreign student visas will not be a "one-time" check, but rather a process that lasts the entire time foreign students remain studying in the country. Bruce was peppered with questions at a Thursday press briefing about the Trump administration's plans for increased vetting for foreign students. The briefing came amid news that the Trump administration has paused new student visa appointments at embassies across the globe. The Trump administration also indicated this week it would begin "aggressively" revoking the visas of Chinese students that pose national security threats, and has plans to implement expanded social media vetting for foreign student visas. "Everyone who's here on a visa has to recognize – certainly it is what they've seen over the last few months – that America takes their visa seriously, that vetting is not a one-time process – it's continuing," Bruce said in response to questions about what the new scrutiny and vetting will entail. "When things, if things happen, if you get arrested, if there's some kind of an issue, it's probably going to be seen at some point," Bruce added. "There's an interest in making sure that those who are here from China on a visa understand that we are taking our national security seriously," she continued. "And, if everything's fine, terrific. But, that will be a vetting that certainly continues and is important." Citing national security concerns, Bruce did not reveal many details about what the new scrutiny on foreign students will look like. However, she did tell reporters that the student visa interviews will likely resume "sooner-than-later," once a formalized process has been agreed upon. Bruce framed the new student visa scrutiny as part of President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda aimed at reducing alleged political indoctrination on campuses and ensuring that American students can receive the highest quality education possible without interference. "There's a reason why people come here – it's because of what the country represents. Yes, the excellence of our schools. And we want to keep it that way," Bruce told reporters Thursday. "We want parents who send their children, whether they be from a different country or America – to an American university – that they can recognize their child when that child returns home … making sure that everyone who does want to send their child to a school in this country can do so knowing that they're going to be safe, they're going to be able to get into a building and not held hostage in a library because it's been occupied, or that they're going to be able to actually learn things that you're paying that kind of money for."
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Trump administration to revoke student visas from Chinese students
Marco Rubio has ordered US embassies to stop scheduling appointments for student visas as the state department prepares to undertake social media vetting.
Washington Post
2 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
New policy on visas adds to mounting scrutiny of international students in the US
New State Department guidance on visa applications is adding to scrutiny of international students that has intensified under President Donald Trump, who has leveraged control of foreign enrollment to press his demands with American colleges. In a cable sent Tuesday to U.S. embassies and consulates Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students until the department releases guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media. Existing appointments may be kept and will proceed under current review guidelines, the cable said, but new guidance is expected in the coming days.
CNN
2 days ago
- General
- CNN
U.S. embassies instructed to pause student visa appointments
The State Department is ordering U.S. embassies to pause all new student visa appointments as it moves to expand social media screening and vetting to all applicants. CNN's Jennifer Hansler explains the uncertainty that will create for foreign students ahead of the fall semester.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
US pauses new student visas: What it means and who it will affect
United States President Donald Trump's administration has ordered its embassies abroad to stop scheduling new visa interview appointments for students and exchange visitors, according to an internal cable seen by news agencies on Tuesday. In the memo, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the pause is in place because the State Department plans to expand the screening of student applicants' social media. Here is all we know about what this pause could mean. Rubio signed a cable, obtained by multiple news agencies, asking US embassies all over the world to pause new visa interviews for foreign students. The cable says: 'The Department is conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting of student and exchange visitor (F, M, J) visa applicants, and based on that review, plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants. 'Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consulate sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor visa appointment capacity.' Most international students hold the F-1 student visa. The J-1 visa is granted to students in exchange or scholarship programmes such as the Fulbright fellowship; professors participating in exchange programmes; and interns. The M-1 visa is granted to students participating in training programmes in the US. A US official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity that the halt is temporary and does not apply to students who have already scheduled their visa interviews. It is unclear how long the halt is for. Tammy Bruce, a spokesperson for the US State Department, declined to comment on reports of the memo, but she told reporters at a regular news briefing that the US will utilise 'every tool' to screen anyone who wants to enter the country. 'We will continue to use every tool we can to assess who it is that's coming here, whether they are students or otherwise,' Bruce said on Tuesday. During the 2023-2024 academic year, the number of international students in US institutions grew to an all-time high of 1.13 million, according to the annual Open Doors report from the Institute of International Education (IIE) and the US State Department. This number marks a 6.6 percent increase in the number of international students enrolled in US colleges and universities from the year before. According to the Open Doors report, 71.5 percent of the international students enrolled in the US between 2023 and 2024 were from Asia. India was the top source, with 331,602 students from the country enrolled in US universities. Following India was China, which sent 277,398 students to the US. In third place is South Korea, which sent 43,149 students to the US. Europe sent 90,600 students to the US, making up 8 percent of the international student population. Amid a wider standoff with Harvard, the Trump administration revoked the university's approval for enrolling international students last week. Harvard currently has 6,800 international students who account for about 27 percent of its student population. International students make up similar proportions of the campus population at other major universities. At Yale, Northwestern University and New York University, 22 percent of the student body comes from outside the US. The number is higher at the University of Rochester, where international students constitute 30 percent of the total student body. According to the Open Doors report, NYU had 27,247 international students between 2023 and 2024, the highest of US universities. Northeastern University was in second place with 21,023 international students and Columbia University came in third with 20,321 students. It is unclear how many students hoping to join academic programmes at US universities this fall (autumn) will be affected by the pause that the State Department is instituting, per the memo. Most US universities announce admissions decisions by late March or early April. Fulbright announces their final decisions on a rolling basis between March to June. Students typically apply for their student visa after they receive their admissions decision. It takes anywhere between a few weeks to a few months for applicants to receive their visas after submitting their applications. The US State Department website says that F-1 student visas can be issued up to 365 days before the start date of the programme, but students can only enter no more than 30 days before the start date. It is unclear whether or not the pause will affect students already in the US who need their visas extended or renewed. The F-1 student visa is typically granted for a five-year period and the renewal process is the same as the application process, where applicants need to fill out an online form and schedule an interview at a US embassy outside the US. While undergraduate programmes are typically four years long, PhDs can range from three to eight years. Many PhD scholars therefore need to renew their US visa in the middle of their programme. International students finishing one degree and applying for another degree in the US, such as students graduating from a bachelor's degree and applying for a masters, might need to renew their US visa as well. This is the Trump administration's latest step towards cracking down on US universities, particularly international students who showed support for Palestinians in Gaza over the past year. In early March, Ranjani Srinivasan, 37, a PhD candidate in urban planning at Columbia University, had her student visa revoked by the US State Department. Her visa was valid until 2029. Speaking to Al Jazeera later in March, Srinivasan said that she was targeted for her speech and limited social media activity. On her social media, she had posted and shared content critical of Israel's actions in Gaza. Additionally, she had signed several open letters supporting Palestinian rights. Srinivasan said she was never part of any organised campus group and while she was a part of pro-Palestine protests in the past, she was not present in the US in April 2024, when the campus encampments were rattling the Columbia campus. 'If supporting the idea of human rights or ending a genocide is equated with supporting Hamas, then anyone in proximity to me – without me having done anything – can just be picked up and made an example of,' Srinivasan told Al Jazeera.
