Nervous Tense Time for Indian Students to the United States on Air India Repatriation Flights



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Air India has listed the status of the US visa. USA And other conditions for students who want to return to the USA. USA Can …read more

MUMBAI: Students destined for the United States are the last passengers to be caught in the maze of confusing guidelines that decide whether or not they will be allowed to travel to the United States. At dawn on Saturday, Air India issued a note, listing three conditions under which students with an F or M US visa cannot fly to the US. USA Repatriation of Air India flights operated under the Vande Bharat Mission.
Here is a replay of the message issued by Air India at 12:34 am on May 9 under the title “Travel notice for visa category F and M USA”
Indian citizens looking to travel on Air India flights to the US For higher education, they may NOT be able to go to the US. USA On current Air India repatriation flights under the Vande Bharat Mission:
1. Your F or M category visa is valid for less than 6 months from the date of your planned departure.
2. You are a new / new admission case and have not yet joined your educational institution prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
(Explanation: New entrants for the fall 2020 period at US universities must defer their trip to the date closest to the opening date of their university, subject to local public health conditions at the time)
3. In the case of continuing students, who are making normal progress in their course of study, and may have left the United States to visit India before the start of Lockdown in India, they MUST check with their school authorities / university to confirm its operational status. . Alternatively, they may obtain guidance on the School’s policy for foreign students returning to the United States. In such cases, students MAY ONLY attempt to travel to the US. USA With written documentary confirmation that the school is open. Without such documentation, even if continuing students have valid F or M visas, they may not be allowed to board a one-way flight.
(Explanation: This is necessary as some schools may not allow returning students to return to campus for an extended period of time)
The confusion began Thursday night, hours before Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco flight, scheduled to depart at 3 am on Friday. Air India said it was informed by a ministry official of an alleged change in US visa regulations. According to the latest US visa regulations. Indian student visas traveling on flights from India to the US USA They will not be able to enter the USA. USA The Times of India learned of this development Thursday night and published a report in its Friday edition of the new US visa regulations and restrictions. USA For those with a student visa. Since the news came close to the deadline, and since it was obtained from a highly qualified Air India official, TOI went ahead with the report.
On Friday morning, TOI began gathering more information about the alleged changes to the US visa rule. USA Only to discover that there were no such changes. TOI requested a clarification from an Air India spokesperson and the airline clarified that there was no such change in the US visa rules. USA Relating to passengers with a student visa. It was a case of lack of communication between different government agencies, TOI was told. However, he raised the usual caveat: that upon landing in the US If the US immigration officer USA You decide to deny entry to a student because, by saying that the University / School the passenger is destined for is still closed due to COVID, then the student could be denied entry. In such case, Air India will charge a deportation cost of the passenger and take him back to India.
Then, in the early hours of Saturday, Air India released the aforementioned list of conditions under which student visa passengers cannot travel to the US. USA On current Air India repatriation flights. The operational part of the Air India message is that you use the word “may”, which means that there is a possibility that you will not be allowed to board the Air India flight if your case is in these conditions or there is the possibility of that you can afford to board despite these conditions. For a student visa passenger, what that means is that you won’t know if you will be allowed to board the Air India flight until you arrive at the check-in counter.

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