Decision on visas of foreign students: India raises issue with US

India on Tuesday raised with the US its decision to withdraw US visas from foreign students if their universities switch to online-only classes, official sources said.

The issue was raised by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla during an online meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale.

The sources said the US side took note of it and said they will keep the best interests of the Indian students in mind and would try and mitigate the impact of the decision.

It also conveyed to India that detailed guidelines for implementation of the decision are yet to come out.

In a move that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students, the US immigration authority announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The US immigration agency said that the students currently staying in the US and enrolled into such programmes "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to an institute with in-person tuition to remain in lawful status".