admin International students enrolled in the top US universities will continue to study online during the course of the spring semester of 2021. This announcement on the likelihood of continuing the online mode of teaching-learning was made by an Immigration and Customs spokesperson.
The Mandate
International students who held valid non-immigrant student visas on March 9, 2020, are allowed to continue their courses online, whether they are in the United States or overseas. The latter will have the chance to retain their immigration status provided that they are enrolled in full course load. Whereas, students who at the same date were enrolled actively at US universities but continued to take lessons remotely while being abroad might be allowed to return to the United States, even if their university has fully shifted lessons to the online version. Moreover, as per guidelines, first year students enrolled at the universities as of March 9th 2020, have to take at least one face-to-face course.
In other circumstances, international students are obliged to be present in the United States in order to preserve their student visa status. However, the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the education and immigration departments to subvert the conventional regulations slightly. Thus, international students enrolled in the various universities courses have been given the leeway to attend those classes remotely. The Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) federal guidance issued in March 2020 will allow students with the F or M student visas to continue taking their respective courses online. This will however, not affect their immigration status.
New Enrollments
The rules are a little different for those who wish to enroll this year. New international students who are not in the US but want to enter with an initial Form I-20, “Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status,” may not be able to take full courses online. They will be allowed to enter the country with a valid visa and enroll in at least one face-to-face course. In case an educational institution is fully operating online, officials are not allowed to issue a Form I-20 for new students remaining outside the US
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