Tighter Visa Scrutiny Drives Chinese STEM Students to Give Up on a U.S. Education
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For 12 agonizing days, Lei Fu stared at his phone, refreshing the U.S. visa status page dozens of times a day. He was so consumed with anxiety that he dreamt of the waiting.
Then, on the afternoon of Aug. 26, two words finally appeared on the screen in his family’s home: “Approved.”
Lei, a recent civil engineering graduate, had been accepted into the master’s program at Montana Technological University with a teaching assistantship. But an unexpectedly late admissions decision meant his visa interview at the Guangzhou consulate wasn’t until mid-August. The conversation itself was relaxed, with the consular officer chatting about Yellowstone National Park.
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- 2020：
- The number of Chinese students in the U.S. peaks at 370,000.
- 2023–2024 academic year：
- International students contribute an estimated $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy and support more than 370,000 jobs.
- 2024：
- The U.S. F-1 student visa refusal rate reaches 41%, a 10-year high.
- First five months of 2024：
- F-1 visa issuance to mainland Chinese students drops 11.8% compared to the same period in 2023.
- May 2025：
- Li Hua is placed under administrative review after his U.S. visa interview.
- Mid-July 2025：
- Li Hua is asked to submit his social media information as part of the administrative review for his U.S. visa.
- Two days after mid-July 2025：
- Li Hua's visa is denied.
- Between July 2025 and August 2025：
- Zhang Le is denied a U.S. MBA student visa three times.
- Mid-August 2025：
- Lei Fu attends his visa interview at the U.S. consulate in Guangzhou, which results in administrative processing and delay.
- Aug. 26, 2025：
- Lei Fu's U.S. student visa is approved after 12 days of waiting for administrative processing.
- Aug. 26, 2025：
- President Trump says the U.S. could allow as many as 600,000 Chinese students to study at American universities.
- Sept. 2, 2025：
- U.S. State Department ends most interview waivers for non-immigrant visas, reinstating near-universal in-person interview requirements.
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