Posted in International

Rumors that the U.S. will ease travel restrictions Chinese students can go to the U.S. this fall

 2021年4月28日

The Biden administration will ease travel restrictions to allow Chinese students and international students from other countries to study in the United States this fall, U.S. government officials told Reuters. The move comes after many international students without U.S. citizenship were barred from entering the country because of the coronavirus (a Chinese Communist virus) pandemic.

The State Department is scheduled to announce later Tuesday (April 27) that it will expand the National Interest Waiver to allow students and scholars from around the world to come to the United States starting Aug. 1, officials said, according to an exclusive Reuters report.

Since the outbreak, non-U.S. citizens who stayed in China, Brazil, South Africa, Iran and much of Europe during the two weeks prior to entry have been barred from entering the United States. Now, students from all of these countries will be eligible to enter the U.S. in a few months.

The largest number of international students in the U.S. come from China. According to the International Education Exchange (IEE), about 35 percent of international students in the U.S. will come from China in the 2019-20 academic year, almost twice as many as the second-highest country, India.

In a November 2020 report, IEE said 372,000 Chinese attended U.S. universities in the 2019-20 academic year.

In January 2020, an outbreak in China led the U.S. government to implement travel restrictions that barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens from mainland China from entering the country.

The American Council on Education urged the Biden administration to act quickly, and in a letter last month, the agency said the U.S. government could send a welcoming message to current and potential international students that could help make the United States a desirable (study) destination as well as support economic activity as the U.S. economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another big issue is that first-time student visa applicants must be interviewed at U.S. embassies and consulates, the report said.