Thousands of F-1 visa revocations have been reversed for international students in the United States following statements made by federal officials Friday, April 25, according to the Associated Press.
An unidentified El Camino College student’s F-1 visa was revoked during spring break, according to earlier reporting by The Union. It is unknown if the student’s visa has been reinstated.
“The initial reaction is shock and fear for us. However, our students are not immigrant students. They are F-1 visa students, which means they are not immigrants. They are here legally to come study and return to their home countries,” Leonid Rachman, F-1 visa operations officer at ECC, said.
Rachman said that F-1 visas permit international students to study in the U.S and that status is the condition they hold once they arrive in the country.
A visa is a paper travel document that is embedded into the traveler’s passport.
“If a visa is revoked, that does not mean that status has been revoked, so they can continue to go to college. But if they exit the United States, they cannot come back because a visa is an entrance document. If visa and status are both revoked, students should be going home,” Rachman said.
Access to Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems (SEVIS) records has been restored to institutions after the visa status of over 1,200 international students in the U.S. were restored as reported Friday, April 25.
The U.S. Department of State began revoking F-1 visas at the end of March, following the Trump Administration’s executive orders from January on visa applicants and current students in the country.
The Union spoke to students from the International Student Program at ECC, who wished not to be identified out of concern for their visa status.
“I kind of feel bad for [the students] because they are just trying to express themselves and speak up for their rights. That’s how I feel right now,” an international student, who asked to remain anonymous, said. “We pay a lot of high fees and it’s not worth it if we’re going to be at risk of losing our status.”
An international student said the F-1 visa application is a six-month process. The visa is first requested in a U.S. embassy, then proof of English proficiency and bank statements are required to prove tuition fees and U.S. living costs can be afforded.
Then students can apply to any Student and Exchange Visitor Program-approved school.
Summer Kennedy, Student Services Specialist at ECC, said enrollment in the program has decreased significantly since COVID-19.
“Before the pandemic, we were picking up numbers,” Kennedy said.
Rachman said international students are shifting away from studying in the U.S., with one reason being the cost of the U.S. dollar.
“Students will decide to not apply to the United States [and] instead apply and go to different countries, [such as] Canada, Australia, UK, other European and Asian countries,” Rachman said.
One international student at ECC feels uncertainty being in the U.S. and considers studying in a different country.
“It’s actually made me look for different options. I might want to transfer to Canada instead. Being under this administration in the U.S. is not the safest for international students or safe for anyone,” the student said.
Another anonymous student expresses astonishment toward the situation.
“I’m truly flabbergasted by the revocation of the student visa,” the second anonymous student said. “As one of many international students in the U.S., I know why they came to the U.S. and what they are looking for in this country. I sincerely hope that they’d put an end to this situation and let them achieve their dreams.”
Rachman emphasizes the importance of following the law for F-1 visa students. Students who break laws or commit criminal activities are at risk of losing their visa.
“Today, it’s much more severe. It’s scarier than before and it is a complicated issue, visa versus status. Each situation depends on what the student did and what their story is,” Rachman said. “We still live in a democracy. It is a country by law and they still have to follow rules and regulations.”
Rachman said less people are enrolling in college and universities and international students fill spots in classrooms that don’t have enough students.
“International students are very important in schools because they provide diversity, funds and take seats in a classroom,” he said.
F-1 visa students will be able to transfer on the condition that they have good grades, meet with an academic counselor and take the correct classes for their academic plan.
“I don’t feel that it’s [the revocations] affecting my plans for transfer, but it could be one of the potential obstacles and could ruin my plan,” the second anonymous student said.
The International Student Program has sent out communications through phone calls and emails and hosted workshops and Zoom meetings to keep students well-informed about visa revocations.
Students can visit the program’s website for more information or visit its office in person on the first floor of the Student Services Building.
