The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China will resume processing visa appointments for Chinese students next Tuesday, May 4, but will continue to impose restrictions on some students with “high-tech” backgrounds, a senior U.S. official said.
Chinese students may apply for visas up to 120 days prior to the start of their program.
Consul General William Bistransky of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing said at a news conference Friday (April 30) that more than 3,000 online applications were received in the first hour of the opening.
He said the reopening of visa applications sends a signal to Chinese students that Americans “welcome foreign students into our homes, communities or universities.
Hundreds of applicants are expected to arrive at the visa processing center next Tuesday, when more than 100 visa officers and 150 Chinese staff will be available to help them, Bivin said.
By mid-May, he said, about 2,000 applications should be processed each day.
While the vast majority of students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields will be granted visas, some students with high-tech backgrounds will require additional screening, Bi Wenlin said.
Chinese students make up 35 percent of all international students in the U.S. in the 2019-2020 academic year, according to the Association for International Educational Exchange.
On May 29, 2020, then-President Trump issued a Presidential Proclamation (Proclamation) suspending and restricting the issuance of F and J visas related to the development of the Chinese Communist Party’s military, effective June 1, 2020, at 12:00 noon EST, in the interest of safeguarding U.S. national security.
The specific suspensions and prohibitions include: Chinese nationals who receive funding from, or are currently employed by, or are studying or conducting research at, entities that implement or support China’s (CCP) “civil-military integration strategy” will be denied entry into the United States on F or J visas to study or conduct research in the United States. The exception is for Chinese students in the relevant fields mentioned above who seek to study in the United States as undergraduates.
Trump’s presidential proclamation states that “Chinese (Communist) authorities have used some Chinese students, primarily graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property (information). Therefore, it is highly likely that students or researchers from China, with a bachelor’s degree or higher, who are or have been associated with the Chinese Communist Party military will be coerced or assigned by the Chinese (Communist Party) authorities and require special attention.”
Bi Wenlin said Friday that the restriction will remain in place.
On April 27, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing issued a statement saying that the State Department is committed to facilitating lawful travel to the United States and, accordingly, Secretary Blinken has determined that several national interest waivers apply to all existing regional travel restrictions in effect as a result of the New Crown outbreak (the Chinese Communist Party virus outbreak).
This means that students now in China who travel to the United States for academic programs beginning on or after August 1, 2021, will not be subject to the travel restrictions imposed under the Presidential Proclamation related to New Crown (CCP), the statement said. These students may be issued visas if other conditions are met.
The State Department said students with valid F-1 and M-1 visas who wish to begin their programs of study as of Aug. 1 are no longer subject to the travel ban and may fly directly from China to the United States without having to stay in a third country for at least 14 days before entering the United States. They will be allowed to enter the U.S. 30 days prior to the start of their program, so the earliest date of entry this year is July 2.
Recent Comments