Jul 14, 2020
Trump Administration Rescinds Ruling against Foreign Students
Emily M. Cohen
We previously reported that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced plans to severely modify temporary exemptions for nonimmigrant students taking courses during the Fall semester that would result in international students enrolled in online programs being stripped of their visas, denied entry to the united States, or forced to depart the country if already here.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T) and Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration that sought a temporary restraining order and an injunction that prevents the government from enforcing the policy. It emphasized the challenges this will pose to students’ mere weeks before the start of the 2020 Fall semester, leaving students with an inability to transfer and with the threat of deportation.
Today the two parties have come to a resolution and the government has agreed to rescind the July 6, 2020 policy and will return to the March 13, 2020 policy which allowed nonimmigrants students to take more online courses than usually permitted by Federal regulations.
This is welcome news for the roughly 1.21 million F-1 and M-1 students enrolled and registered at more than 8,700 SEVP-certified schools across the United States as of March, 2018. Should you have any questions or concerns about this resolution please do not hesitate to reach out to our Office.