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The federal government is ending its long-held policy that lets international students stay in the United States for as long as it takes them to finish their degree.
The new rules create uncertainty for international students and prospective students, and universities fear it could prevent students from coming to study in the United States.
Experts warn Massachusetts, with its nearly 85,000 international students, could suffer from a “brain drain,” losing out on the billions of dollars that international students add to the local economy.
Most international students currently get what is called a “duration of status” that allows them to stay in the country for the entirety of their academic program.
The Department of Homeland Security said last week it will set a four-year limit on visa holders who are international students and foreign journalists starting Sept. 15. Many students — such as a typical PhD student who takes more than four years to finish their degree — they would need to request an exemption from the federal government to continue their studies.
The government said its ending a loophole that allowed foreigners to remain in the United States indefinitely without “routine government oversight.”
Local immigration attorneys say that the visa programs already had sufficient oversight, and the changes will have a massive impact on young people trying to plan their futures.
“This is going to eventually apply to everybody. Any international student or scholar in the United States, this will eventually apply to them,” said immigration attorney Mahsa Khanbabai, who works with international students and physicians who get visas for their medical residency training programs.
The new compliance rules are “staggering,” she said, placing the burden on students who are already navigating how the college process works here.
“This is going to create a significant burden on students, and it’s basically telling international students and scholars, ‘You’re not welcome here,’” she said.
Local universities and hospitals opposed changing the rule when it was first proposed last year. On behalf of MIT, Maria T. Zuber wrote the changes would create “significant uncertainty” for students.
“Students will not want to study in the U.S. if they cannot rely on a visa that will last the duration of their program of study,” said Zuber, a geophysics professor and the university’s presidential advisor for science and technology. “The U.S. STEM enterprise cannot afford to lag behind other nations that will welcome these students and scholars to their own universities.”
Universities urged currently enrolled students to speak with guidance counselors to understand their own status.
The federal changes will also stop international students from changing majors or transferring to other colleges unless a federal exemption is granted.
“Limiting their ability to change majors, limiting their ability to change schools, putting more burdens on the university to be the record keeper — in the end, all it’s going to do is hurt the economy of the areas where these schools are located,” said Matthew Maiona, Boston-based immigration attorney and adjunct professor at Suffolk University Law School. “It’s going to stop innovation in the United States, and the best and brightest aren’t going to want to come here, because they feel the pressure they’re not welcome or wanted.”
NAFSA, a nonprofit that promotes international exchange, estimates that international students contribute $3.6 billion to the Massachusetts economy.
Current impacted visa holders will be automatically transitioned to the new system, with their stay capped at four years from the date of the rule going into effect in September.
For students in their final years of school, or considering studying in the U.S., many questions remain.
“It’s just very restrictive in terms of the burden it imposes on students, from deadlines to costs, to the higher risks of things falling through the crack, and any little mistake will trigger serious immigration consequences,” said Khanbabai.
The changes make it more difficult to plan what’s next: students won’t be able to easily transition to do a master’s or PhD program.
The federal government warned that students who are in the country beyond their visas will be considered in the country illegally, and can be deported.
“The impact of the change is going to be on students primarily to keep track of their status and know when they have to exit the United States, keeping in mind that it may be ... a date before the completion of their program,” said Maiona.
“It’s also going to be incumbent on universities to keep track of these new dates as well, so that any changes or potential changes that the student makes in their educational program is reflected properly so they don’t go out of status,” he said.
