This article was prepared with the assistance of ABIL, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers, of which Loan Huynh, Fredrikson Immigration Department Chair, is a member.
According to reports, the Department of State has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers. Some report receiving an email stating that their visas were revoked, they cannot travel on their current visas, and they may be required to reappear before a U.S. consular officer to establish eligibility before being permitted to apply for entry to the United States.
The revocations appear to result from President Trump's proclamation in May 2020 suspending the entry of certain students and researchers from China. The Department of State reportedly said that "high-risk graduate students and research scholars" had been expelled. The Department of Homeland Security's Chad Wolf was quoted as saying that visas were revoked "for certain Chinese graduate students and researchers with ties to China's military fusion strategy, to prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research."
