The United States is seeking new
guidelines that could restrict some international students, including those
from Nigeria, from admission of more than two-year period.
If approved, the new guidelines
from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mean affected students will be
barred from four-year courses in the US.
It is not immediately clear when
the policy will take effect.
It is also unclear whether it
will affect students currently in the US, in spite of their status document.
Ordinarily, valid status document
provides legal grounds for students to continue their study in the US, whether
or not their student visas have expired.
But in the new measures published
in the US federal register and scheduled for announcement on Friday, the DHS proposed a “maximum admission period
of up to 2 years for certain students”, including those from Nigeria.
Among the countries targeted in
the new policy are those on the US “State sponsor of terrorism list” and
students from countries that visitors have overstay rate of more than 1o
percent.
The DHS 2019 overstay report puts
Nigeria’s in-country overstay rate at 11.12 percent; most African countries are
also above the 10 percent maximum rate.
The DHS said the two-year limit
is based on factors that it identified as “involving national security and
public safety concerns.”
It said: “A key goal of shifting
aliens in F status from D/S to an admission for a fixed time period is to
provide pre-defined time periods for immigration officers to evaluate whether a
nonimmigrant has maintained his or her status.
“If an immigration officer finds
that an alien violated his or her status prior to or during the course of an
EOS adjudication and denies the EOS request, the alien generally would begin
accruing unlawful presence the day after issuance of the denial.”
The DHS added that the proposed
rule seeks to reduce instances in which F, J, and I nonimmigrants — mostly
students and exchange visitors — “unlawfully remain in the United States after
their program or practical training ends.”
“Under this proposed rule, aliens
who remain in the United States beyond a fixed time period generally would
begin accruing unlawful presence,” it said.
“Depending on the extent of
unlawful presence accrual, an alien may become inadmissible upon departing the
United States and will be ineligible for benefits for which admissibility is
required, such as adjustment of status to that of a lawful permanent resident.”
The new proposal is the latest of
numerous policies introduced by the Trump administration targeting migrants in
the US.
Amid the coronavirus lockdown, in
July, the administration was forced to abandon a plan to strip international students
of their visas if they are not required to attend some classes in person.
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