WASHINGTON: The United States announced that it would not allow foreign students to live in the US if their classes were transferred online in the fall due to the COVID-19 crisis. The U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) said in a statement, "Nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending fully online schools can not take a full online course and remain in the United States."
According to the ICE, participating students in the US who are enrolled in these programs must leave the country or take other steps, such as moving to a school with in-person training in order to stay in legal status. It added that they may face the repercussions of immigration, including, but not limited to, the initiation of deportation proceedings.
According to ICE, the State Department does not grant visas to foreign
students participating in schools that are completely online for the fall semester,
nor will US Customs and Border Protection allow such students to enter the
United States. Reports have suggested that as many as 14,000 Nepali students
are likely to be impacted by this decision.
(With inputs from Agencies)
