Things to note when nearly 1,000 international students have their visas revoked in the US

The situation of a series of international students at American universities suddenly having their visas revoked without receiving any official notice from the authorities has made many students worried. As of April 12, nearly 1,000 international students from more than 170 universities and colleges in the US had their visas revoked, including many students from top universities such as Harvard, Stanford or Columbia...

The majority of visas revoked were F-1 (for students) or J-1 (for exchange programs). Some were revoked for participating in protests, having anti-government views, or being prosecuted for violating US laws, including traffic violations. However, many were revoked for unknown reasons.

Having just been accepted to the University of Michigan and in the process of getting a visa to fly to the US next September, Tran Anh Duy (Hanoi) was worried when he read the news that a series of US international students had their visas revoked, even if they were in their 3rd or 4th year of study.

Not only Duy, his parents were also quite stressed when reading this information. The male student said that he now has to be more careful in his behavior on social networks to avoid being denied or having his visa revoked.

Similarly, Tran Yen Nhi, a sophomore at the University of Utah, also felt worried when she heard that a series of international students at many American universities suddenly had their visas revoked, even though she was confident that her records were "very clean". "I felt worried and did not understand what was happening," Nhi said.

Ms. Tran Phuong Hoa, Director of Summit Education Organization, said that recently, many parents and international students are worried when seeing hundreds of international students have their visas canceled. In addition, some American universities have also sent notices advising international students who are studying in the US to limit their travel during this time to avoid visa risks if they do not have urgent matters requiring them to leave the US.

However, according to her, Vietnamese students do not need to worry too much because recent visa cancellations are often due to non-compliance with US law or being suspected of posing a security risk to the US.

“If Vietnamese students are studying well, have good character and obey the law, their visas will not be affected. On the other hand, Vietnam is not among the countries subject to strict control or visa restrictions by the US.

The number of visas revoked is also very small compared to the total of more than 1 million international students in the US. Therefore, for Vietnamese students who are studying normally and have not violated the law, there is no need to be too panicked,” Ms. Hoa said.

However, Ms. Hoa also advised international students to be careful when traveling, especially when changing visa status. For example, if international students return to Vietnam to apply for a change of status or a short-term visa extension, if during this process documents are lost or there are problems with administrative procedures, it can delay their return to the US to study or work, causing them to miss important opportunities.

In addition, international students should also carefully meet with their school's international student support representative before leaving the US to check whether their documents or visa status are correct.

“International students need to carefully study the regulations on permitted working hours, the number of credits required to maintain their visa, not using banned substances, complying with the law, and being honest when filling out their application to avoid having their visas rejected or revoked,” said Ms. Hoa.