The recent deportation of some Indian students by the US immigration authorities is likely to impactthe number of applications to smaller universities.
An advisory issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said, “In recent days, there have been several instances of denial of entry by the US Immigration authorities to Indian students having valid student visas to pursue studies in two educational institutions, namely, Silicon Valley University at San Jose and Northwestern Polytechnic University, Fremont. The union government has taken up this matter with the US government. We have asked the US authorities to explain the reasons for denial of entry on a large scale to Indian students holding valid visas. The response of the US government is awaited.”
Furthermore, the MEA has also asked students to defer their travel plans to the two universities till the matter is resolved.
According to news reports, 14 Indian students were deported last week and 19 others, who had sought admission to these two universities, were not allowed to board their flights.
Vineet Gupta, Managing Director at Jamboree Education, said that it is surprising that the students were deported after getting visas and procuring I-20 forms issued by the educational institutions certifying their admission.
Gupta added that students need to be careful and do due diligence as to which university they are picking in the US.
A Mumbai-based educational consultant said,“Many students – particularly those who have got admission in second-rung universities in the US – may rethink their plans after these incidents.”
Interestingly, the number of Indian students to the US recorded a 29.4 per cent jump at 1.33 lakh in 2014-15, a rebound after continuously declining for three years.