Jamaican students studying in the United States could be impacted by new directives issued Monday by US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE)
It has announced that it will not allow foreign students to remain in the country if all of their classes are moved online in the fall semester because of the coronavirus crisis.
ICE gave the updated guidelines in a statement.
In its statement Monday, ICE said non-immigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online cannot take a full online course load and remain in the United States.
F-1 students pursue academic coursework and M-1 students pursue vocational coursework.
ICE said students in programs that are entirely online must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status.
Such students can also take medical leave to maintain their status.
If not, they may face immigration consequences, including the initiation of removal proceedings.
It said the U.S. Department of State will not issue visas to students enrolled in schools or programs that are fully online for the fall semester and the Customs and Border Protection will not permit these students to enter the United States.
ICE said schools should update their information in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System within 10 days of the change if they begin the fall semester with in-person classes but are later required to switch to only online classes.
They are also required to update the system if a non-immigrant student changes their course selections, and as a result, ends up taking an entirely online course load.
Due to COVID-19, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System instituted a temporary exemption regarding online courses for the spring and summer semesters.
This policy permitted non-immigrant students to take more online courses than normally permitted by federal regulation.
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