An replace like this wants a time stamp because the occasions reported are unfolding shortly. It was first printed on 12 June at 23:44 Central European Time.
For sure, there was a flurry of headlines regarding present and potential worldwide college students within the US over the previous couple of weeks. What follows is a abstract of the latest developments over the weeks of two June and 9 June.
The pause continues
On 27 Could, the US State Division ordered a pause on scheduling new interview appointments for scholar visa candidates. The commentary across the order on the time was that this was a short-term measure that may finish in “the approaching days”.
The pause continues, nevertheless, at this writing and is stretching into its third week. Because it extends later into June, that pause on scheduling new interviews turns into a bigger and bigger subject. The important thing processing interval for scholar visas for the USA is Could to August. In 2024, seven out of ten scholar visas issued by the US have been granted in that four-month interval.
Writing on LinkedIn this week, NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw stated, “This suspension comes at a peak time when a minimum of 50% of latest worldwide college students nonetheless must schedule visa interview appointments with a view to arrive in time for the autumn semester.”
NAFSA and the US for Success Coalition are urging stakeholders to attraction to Congress to finish the pause on scheduling visa interviews. It appears clear that it’ll have already got had an impression on enrolments for the approaching educational 12 months. How vital that impression grows to be will rely upon how for much longer the pause of latest visa interviews extends by this peak processing interval.
Journey ban 2.0
On 4 June, President Trump issued a proclamation establishing a brand new journey ban. It features a “whole ban” on residents from 12 nations coming into the USA, and a “partial ban” on these from one other 7 nations.
The 12 whole ban nations are Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. The 7 partial ban nations are Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela. Each classes embrace a ban on F, M, and J scholar visas.
Each classes of journey ban apply to nationals of an affected nation who’re exterior of the US, with no legitimate visa, as of 9 June 2025. The proclamation clearly states that, “No immigrant or nonimmigrant visa issued earlier than the relevant efficient date of this proclamation shall be revoked pursuant to this proclamation.” Which means college students from nations included within the ban who’re already within the US, and with a sound visa, won’t be topic to elimination.
Of the 19 nations included within the ban, solely three despatched greater than 1,000 college students to the USA in 2023/24.
- Burma (3,222 college students within the 2023/24 educational 12 months)
- Iran (12,430)
- Venezuela (3,904)
Iran is the notable inclusion within the group, not solely within the scale of its present enrolment within the US but in addition as a result of it’s a high tier progress marketplace for worldwide scholar recruitment worldwide and is poised to ship bigger numbers of scholars overseas within the medium to long-term.
Reminiscent of the sooner journey ban through the first Trump administration, the larger subject right here may be the sign that this sends to worldwide markets. It will likely be usually understood (in affected nations and in any other case) to point that the US is now not as open to worldwide guests, together with college students. This sentiment will possible be amplified in areas which can be dwelling to banned nations (e.g., Africa, different Muslim-majority nations, and so forth.). In that sense, the impression of the ban could possibly be farther reaching than it would initially seem, particularly along with different latest coverage bulletins from the US administration.
We noticed an early instance of this in early June when Malaysian officers stated that they’d now not ship scholarship college students to the US, in response to new insurance policies affecting overseas college students below President Trump.
Can college students nonetheless go to Harvard?
The Trump administration is locked in a battle with Harvard College. On 22 Could, the Division of Homeland Safety revoked Harvard’s Scholar and Change Customer Program (SEVP) certification, a transfer that may forestall the college from enrolling overseas college students. The revocation was swiftly overturned by a 23 Could courtroom order, however President Trump subsequently issued a Presidential Proclamation barring college students from coming into the USA to review at Harvard.
“I’ve decided that it’s needed to limit the entry of overseas nationals who search to enter the USA solely or principally to take part in a course of examine at Harvard College or in an alternate customer program hosted by Harvard College,” wrote the President.
The 4 June Proclamation units out clearly that it applies to these college students travelling from exterior of the USA: “The suspension and limitation on entry pursuant to part 1 of this proclamation shall apply to aliens who enter or try and enter the USA to start attending Harvard College by the SEVP after the date of this proclamation.”
But it surely additionally opens the door to revocation of visas for college students already enrolled on the college: “The Secretary of State shall take into account, within the Secretary’s discretion, whether or not overseas nationals who at the moment attend Harvard College and are in the USA pursuant to F, M, or J visas…ought to have their visas revoked.”
In any occasion, implementation of the Proclamation was additionally swiftly blocked – on 5 June – by one other courtroom order. On 9 June, CNN reported that the State Division had ordered all US posts overseas to renew processing of scholar visas for Harvard-bound candidates.
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