Foreign students taking classes fully online will have to leave the US

Foreign students who will have their classes for this fall fully online will have to leave the United States, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency announced on Monday.

According to Reuters, the American agency will not allow student visa holders to stay in the country «if their school was fully online for the fall». They have only one option, which is changing schools.

Several colleges and universities in the United States announced that they would conduct online classes for the 2020-2021 academic year because of the global health crisis, including Harvard University.

ICE's new measure is expected to affect holders of F-1 and M-1 visas, for academic and vocational students. For the record, the US State Department granted 388,839 F visas and 9,518 M visas in 2019, the same source concluded.