It began with one cable. A signed memo by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has already reached each U.S. embassy on the planet — ordering them to cancel all new visa interviews for overseas college students.
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Meaning college students ready to schedule their F, M, or J visa interviews — can’t. Not now. Not anytime quickly.
Why? A more in-depth scrutiny is within the pipeline. The American authorities is weighing whether or not to increase social media screening for future scholar and alternate customer visa recipients.
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In easy language, the U.S. desires to scan an individual’s on-line life earlier than deciding who will get a scholar visa. The embassies had been advised to not e book any extra visa interview slots till this new observe is ironed out.
This sudden stoppage occurred simply when most overseas college students, and particularly Indians, had been considering of reserving locations for the subsequent fall semester. Just a few had already began planning for visa interviews, paying costs, arranging paperwork, and dreaming of leaving in July.
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Nothing has been talked about but about how lengthy this suspension will final. However that is no mere delay — it may lead to lacking deadlines, flights, and even semesters.
The timing doesn’t really feel proper. Weeks forward of visa season when college students usually open their purposes, this sudden suspension is putting college students in a wait-and-hope standing — particularly first-time candidates.
It’s not the cease itself that troubles me. It’s the silence. Nobody has a clue what this social media vetting goes to appear to be, how lengthy it’ll final, or the way it would possibly sway the chances of approval.
There’s a value to ready, because it seems. When analysis plans converge with coverage modifications, it’s the scholars who’re left unsure.
Research overseas isn’t just about levels and universities — it’s about time, funds, planning, and typically compromises within the residence. A choice so monumental, so unexpected, is deserving of higher causes and brighter timing.
If safety is at stake, transparency has to experience with it. Canceling appointments with no grasp plan dangers extra disinformation than governance.
