The English-language website of the Communist Party’s Global Times on Monday (May 17) cited at least two providers of U.S. study abroad services as confirming that children whose parents work for the Communist Party’s intelligence service have been denied U.S. visas.
A letter provided Monday by Gwai Education, a Beijing-based consulting service for students applying to U.S. schools, indicates that U.S. consular officials informed them that one of their students had been denied a visa, the report said.
The letter informed that the visas of senior officials employed by four Chinese Communist Party intelligence and law enforcement agencies and their spouses and children had been suspended.
“This student (U.S. visa) was denied because his family works in the public security department.” Qiao Xiangdong, owner of GW Education, told the Global Times.
According to Chinese domestic media reports last week, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China resumed accepting student visa applications on May 4, and effective immediately suspended the issuance of B1, B2, B1/B2, F1, F2, J1 and J2 visas to officials of the State Immigration Administration of the People’s Republic of China (including the Exit-Entry Administration) of the rank of deputy director (or equivalent) and above, their spouses and married or unmarried children under 21 years of age, the and active duty personnel of the State Supervisory Commission, the Ministry of State Security, and the Ministry of Public Security, their spouses and children under 30 years of age.
In addition, Bai Limin, an expert in charge of undergraduate program applications at ZMN International Education, another Beijing-based education consulting agency, confirmed a similar experience.
“A student from our institution applied and his father worked in the immigration office and he was checked by the visa officer for a long time. He had gotten an acceptance letter from a well-known university.” White said.
In addition, the executive order issued by Trump (Trump) last May is still in effect. The executive order calls for prohibiting Chinese graduate students and researchers from studying or working in the U.S. if they were previously associated with China’s civil-military integration strategy, and suspending and limiting the issuance of F and J visas to them in connection with the Communist Party’s military development, for reasons of safeguarding U.S. national security.
The Global Times reports that the earliest date shown for visa interviews at the U.S. embassies and consulates in Beijing and Shanghai is June 1, while the two in Shenyang and Guangzhou are on May 20; at the consulates in Shanghai and Guangzhou, no interview dates are shown for graduate and doctoral students.
Qiao Xiangdong of GFE said that some students planning to study in the U.S. for their undergraduate degree have been granted visas, but none of the students pursuing graduate studies have been granted visas.
Employees at another Beijing-based visa application agency told the Global Times that Trump’s executive order is still in effect and that some of the agency’s students planning to study at U.S. universities have been denied visas.
“Many of our clients with this particular background are either waiting or simply abandoning their study plans.” The employee said.
Elaine, an employee at another visa application center in Beijing, said some of her clients who graduated from universities with “military backgrounds” and intended to apply for student visas to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects have been denied.
“These students are facing more scrutiny at the U.S. Visa Application Center this year,” Elaine said. Elaine said.
A student surnamed Dong from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which has ties to the Chinese Communist Party military, was one of the students denied a visa.
He said it was his last attempt to apply for a U.S. visa this year, and several of his classmates were also denied.
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