Will the return of overseas students be cancelled during the epidemic?

The epidemic in the United States is really like a mystery. After all, the number of confirmed cases in the United States will not be mentioned, and none will be sealed. All universities in the United States are basically closed. Shops are also closed, and many students studying in the United States are also considering returning to China, so the issue of visas must be everyone's greatest concern.

First of all, the F- 1 visa and I-20 issues that your friends are most concerned about.

If your F- 1 visa expires in a short time (say 5-8 months), it is recommended that you do not leave the United States.

At present, the domestic visa booking time is very late, and the Beijing consular district has even ended at 1 1, and the nearest Chengdu consular district will not arrive until at least June. At present, there is no reservation time in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang.

Therefore, friends returning to China must ensure that your F- 1 visa is still valid when they return to the United States in the new semester.

In addition, you need to ensure that your signature on the I-20 document will not expire (one year's validity) after returning to the United States in the new semester.

According to DHS's Five Months

Rule "(five-month rule): international students whose student status has been terminated for more than five months, or international students who have not participated in overseas study programs stay outside the United States for more than five months. When they want to return to the United States as F- 1, they need to get the I-20 from school again and use the new SEVIS.

Id card. Whether it is necessary to reapply for I-20 due to special reasons of the epidemic situation, it is recommended to hand it over to the international school.

Office (International Student Office) consults the latest policy to ensure that your I-20 status will not be affected when you return to the United States after the epidemic.

American students are not so free. According to many media reports, some schools have informed students that if they return to China at this time, they may cancel their I-20.

A letter from the American high school HamdenHallCountryDaySchool.

) was published online, and the school advised students to carefully consider the risks of international travel.

1. During the spring break and suspension of classes, the school does not recommend unnecessary travel, especially international travel. At present, the US government is right.

Many countries, including China, Iran and most European countries, have imposed travel bans. At present, China citizens and Iranian citizens are not allowed to enter the United States. There is no exact timetable for lifting the travel ban.

2. The Department of Homeland Security suggested that schools "terminate" the SEVIS records of students who left school.

After students' SEVIS records are terminated, they need to re-apply for an F- 1 visa when they re-enter. It is unknown how long this process will take and whether students can be approved.

Students who miss too many classes can't get credit.

Schools can't provide credits to students who are absent from classes too much. If students need to be quarantined here for 14 days before returning to the United States, they may not get credit for missing classes during the quarantine period.

4. Teachers can't make up lessons.

After the school resumes classes, teachers will no longer make up lessons for students, and all the absent or unfinished homework will be scored zero directly.

Although this notice comes from a high school, the problem is the same for all international students. If you are absent from class for a long time because of travel, your homework will be scored as zero, which will have a very serious impact on students' normal graduation. The most terrible thing is that I-20 has been cancelled.

Just when everyone panicked, the US Immigration Bureau announced the relevant policies for handling SEVIS during the epidemic, giving you an official explanation:

The first situation: the school is completely closed, and there are no online courses or other alternative learning programs.

Response: If the school is temporarily closed and there is no online guidance or other alternatives, as long as students intend to continue their studies after the resumption of classes, they should maintain their SEVIS status.

The second situation: the school temporarily stops face-to-face courses, there are online courses or other alternative learning programs, and non-immigrant students stay in the United States.

Response: If the school is temporarily closed, but online guidance or other alternative learning programs are provided, non-immigrant students should participate in online or other alternative learning programs to keep SEVIS active. In view of the particularity of the emergency of coronavirus pneumonia-19, SEVP will allow F- 1 and/or M- 1 students to attend courses beyond the prescribed time limit, but only during the emergency.

The third situation: the school temporarily stops face-to-face courses, there are online courses or other alternative learning programs, and non-immigrant students leave the United States.

Response: If the school is temporarily closed, but online guidance or other alternative learning programs are provided, non-immigrant students should participate in online or other alternative learning programs to keep SEVIS active. Similarly, SEVP will allow F- 1 and/or M- 1 students to take courses beyond the prescribed time limit, but this will only be effective in an emergency.

From this perspective, the Immigration Bureau will not ask the school to terminate students' SEVIS, that is to say, as long as students can participate in the online courses of the school normally, the school will not terminate students' SEVIS whether in the United States or abroad. However, if students are unable to attend classes in time because of isolation, resulting in too many absences, or their test scores are recorded as zero, it is likely to affect students' credits and thus their I-20.

"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security suggests that we cancel the suspension of student status for all international students who have returned to China, which means that your child needs to re-apply for the F- 1 visa after returning to China and make it valid again."

One by one, more parents and students in American high schools received similar notices. Some schools have suspended classes, clearly indicating that classes will resume in September. In this case, it is meaningless for international students to stay in the United States. With the spread and escalation of the epidemic in North America, the risk of infection suddenly increased. However, if the US Department of Homeland Security advises schools as mentioned above, there will be visa risks for international students returning to China.