New Student Visa Appointments Temporarily Halted
The State Department ordered U.S. embassies and consulates to temporarily stop scheduling new student visa interviews for F, M and J visas worldwide in preparation for expanding vetting. The directive instructs diplomatic posts not to add any more appointments and to take any unfilled appointments off their calendars. Student visa interviews already scheduled can still go forward. The pause is in place “until further guidance” is issued. The Department of State has advised prospective students to monitor the official appointment system for updates as this suspension is temporary although the specific steps of the additional vetting process have yet to be disclosed.
Student Visas for Chinese Nationals to Be “Aggressively” Revoked
The Department of State has stated it will "aggressively" revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US including "those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields" such as computer science, engineering and artificial intelligence. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also stated that the Department of State will “revise visa criteria to enhance security of all future applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.” Chinese nationals make up a significant portion of international students in the U.S. contributing notably to research and innovation. There were 277,000 Chinese students enrolled in U.S. colleges in 2024 and it is unclear how many of these students will be impacted. While the policy is framed as a national security measure, the broader implications for international education and research contributions remain to be seen.
Harvard University: An Ongoing Conflict
On the heels of a Boston federal judge issuing a preliminary injunction blocking the Department of Homeland Security from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, the Department of State announced an escalation in its social media vetting of visa applicants. The vetting will expand beyond student applicants and will include faculty, employees, contractors, guest speakers and tourists. For the expanded social media screening, consular offices have been told to identify applicants with “histories of anti-Semitic harassment and violence, and to duly consider their visa eligibility under U.S. immigration law.” The cable instructs U.S. consular officers to ask visa applicants to set all their social media accounts to public in the event that they need to be reviewed as part of the vetting. The State Department also instructed officers to, “consider whether the lack of any online presence or having social media accounts restricted to 'private' or with limited visibility, may be reflective of evasiveness and call into question the applicant’s credibility.”
The clash between Harvard University and the current administration has been unfolding since April 2025 when Harvard refused to comply with a “viewpoint diversity” audit, leading to the administration freezing $2.2 billion in federal grants and $60 million in contracts. Although there is currently a preliminary injunction on the administration’s attempt to keep Harvard from enrolling international students, if the administration’s effort is successful, Harvard's foreign students, who make up roughly a fourth of the university's student body, would lose their legal status to stay in the United States or would have to transfer to different universities. Alternatively, the outcome of Harvard’s legal challenges may set significant precedents for the relationship between federal authority and academic institutions.
These developments underscore the ongoing impact of U.S. immigration policy, with the potential for significant legal and economic ramifications for affected communities. Moore & Van Allen is closely monitoring these developments as they unfold.
