The United States will prohibit the entry of new foreign students who take their courses under the virtual modality. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement service announced that students who have enrolled in an educational center after March 9 will not be able to enter the country if their courses are completely virtual.
Previously, the government of Donald Trump had announced that students who are enrolled virtually, would not obtain an extension of visas, the measure was criticized by several universities such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who filed legal complaints against the norm. In addition, the protests of the state of New York and John Hopkins University joined, managing to put pressure on the government.
On July 14, the United States government announced that it was backing down the controversial move, allowing students who choose to give instruction exclusively online during the COVID-19 pandemic to remain in the country.
Companies Google, Facebook, and Twitter were also against the measure, alleging that foreign students contribute to the United States economy. According to calculations, international students contributed between 2018 and 2019 a total of 41,000 million, occupying more than 450,000 direct jobs.
The current measure indicates that new students, that is, those who are registered after March 9, will not be able to enter the United States if their courses are 100% online. Therefore, those who are registered before said date, if they can remain in the country.