MEA issues advisory for students travelling to US

Rakesh Gante, a student from Hyderabad, who secured admission in NPU, told Express, “If the airlines allow me to board the flight, I am still ready to go”.

“We were treated like criminals and sent back”, said another student who had been deported by U.S. authorities.

“As per information available, the deportations have taken place due to denial of entry to these students by US Immigration Authorities”.

Indian students sometimes fall hook, line and sinker for fake United States colleges which have websites featuring smiling students in graduation hats and gowns and are promised leafy campuses in San Francisco Bay Area suburbs. The statement said so far 14 students who travelled on Air India flights to San Francisco have been deported. An official of the national carrier said that two San Francisco-based universities were now under the scanner of the U.S. government.

The advisory came after USA immigration authorities deported 14 Indian students who had gone there to join two universities.

Around 200 pupils from Hyderabad are believed to took admissions in San Jose Silicon Valley College and North-Western Polytec -hnic Fre, College -mont, in america and also have made preparations to depart for that people briefly. “We are indeed aware of the reports that some students were denied entry on the flights to the US”. Air India, in fact seems to have more information as given to it by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency with the Indian Foreign Office still waiting for clarifications from Washington.

Air India had on Sunday night stopped 19 Indian students heading to the two universities from boarding a flight to San Francisco, citing a communication from the US Customs and Border Protection Agency which said that 14 other Indian students were earlier deported as these universities are ” under scrutiny”. “Students at SVU are not being targeted and safe to study in the United States”.

Meanwhile, the two universities have issued statements that they had not been blacklisted and dismissed these reports as “rumours”. Were they able to join the said Universities? The US Consulate in Hyderabad, however, refrained from commenting on the visa issue and diverted all queries to the Department of Homeland Security. It further, in what was seen as a veiled hint maintained, “If you plan to travel by Air India, we suggest that, if possible, you postpone your trip while university officials clear up this issue with Air India”. Full refund of air fare has also been offered.