US visa delays leave Chinese students stranded with ‘frozen’ plans and ‘constant anxiety’

Late August marks the annual influx of international students to US campuses, but for many Chinese students, visa processing delays and diplomatic tensions have turned scheduled departures into open-ended delays.

They say stringent visa scrutiny and expanding background checks have left them in limbo, delaying their timely arrival in the US and forcing them to defer enrolment.

Under a provision of US immigration law known as “administrative processing” or visa checks, applicants may be asked to submit supplementary documents and undergo additional security reviews before their visas can be approved.

Social media posts and interviews with affected students indicate these extended background checks are sweeping up a wider cross-section of applicants and fields of study.

Ray Zhou, a Beijing resident admitted to a master’s degree programme in computer science, said the prolonged checks – now stretching beyond two months – had forced him to defer his enrolment until next year. Zhou, like the other students interviewed, asked not to give his full Chinese name or university as his visa was still being processed.

“My mindset experienced a drastic shift,” he said. “At first, I felt relief from avoiding an immediate refusal and thought I would simply wait it out. But as the start of the semester got closer, the anxiety became overwhelming.”

Hundreds of students across China have taken to social media to raise concerns about prolonged security checks that threaten to derail years of careful planning.