HYDERABAD: Around one lakh students from the Telugu States, who are living in the US, would be affected if the American government withdraws visas of those whose universities have moved classes entirely online. However, experts said the law would be difficult to implement and urged Telugus to remain calm. They argued that not only students, but thousands, who have completed their education and are unable to get a job or those who lost their job because of the Covid-19 pandemic, would be affected.
“Thousands here are forced to take up PhD courses because after their Masters they could not get a job. They too would be affected,” Mohan Nannapaneni, founder of Team AID — an NGO which helps distressed foreign students in the USA, said. Those who returned to the Telugu States when the pandemic broke out may also be affected.
In 2018-2019, around 11 lakh foreign students flew to the US to study, of whom four lakh are Indians, according to experts. Of these four lakh, around one lakh are Telugus from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation, the US government has announced exemptions and allowed nonimmigrant students to take online classes.But, on Monday, the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) announced: “U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools and or for programs that are fully online for the fall semester nor will U.S.
Customs and Border Protection permit these students to enter the United States (sic)”. To make things clearer, a Hyderabad resident, who studies at an university near New York, was told that her classes for the upcoming fall semester (which begins from August 19), would be in-house. “I will not be affected,” she said. But experts said this law would be very hard to implement due to current conditions. Speaking to Express, the former Commissioner for Higher Education in South Carolina, US, Prof Raghu Korrapati, termed the move as “practically unimplementable”.
“Firstly, flights are a major problem. It’s already June 7, and the fall semesters usually start from August 19. It is unlikely that commercial flights will resume. Even if they do, embassies have been closed since mid- March. Generally, students entering the fall semester get their visas in June-July. Even if embassies open, they have to go through appointments”. The academic, who holds seven doctorates, advised students to connect with their universities’ designated school official (DSO) to get an idea about the situation and then decide whether to travel or not. This is important because the SEVP statement makes it clear that those who have a complete online module for the fall semester would not be permitted to enter the country.
Both Nannapaneni and Korrapati said it would be very hard to implement this order and urged students to remain calm. “If foreign students are sent back, it will be a huge loss for universities. One can expect a lawsuit soon,” they said. Secondly, they also stressed on how big an economic burden and risk it would be for the Indian government if they are all sent back. Many can be asymptomatic carriers. TRS NRI wing coordinator Mahesh Bigala said it would not have much effect. “We will take up the issue with the State,” Bigala said. Anief Pasha Mohammed, a Warangal resident working in the US, said, “I am shocked at this announcement. I did feel for a moment that all international students are being treated unfairly”.