US Suspends All Student Visa Interviews Worldwide... Strengthens SNS Screening

The Donald Trump administration has ordered all U.S. diplomatic missions worldwide to suspend student visa interviews entirely.

EPA Yonhap News

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According to foreign media reports including Bloomberg News on the 27th (local time), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed diplomats at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to take this measure, describing it as "a step to prepare for the implementation of enhanced social networking service (SNS) screening and verification procedures."

Secretary Rubio stated, "This measure takes effect immediately," and explained, "No further interviews for student (F) or exchange visitor (J) visas should be conducted until additional guidance is issued."

This measure was taken due to concerns that foreign students could pose a threat to U.S. national security or promote antisemitism. Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict, the Trump administration has strengthened SNS screening for foreign students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests that spread across U.S. college campuses last year. In March, Rumeysa Ozturk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by federal immigration authorities and later released after co-authoring a column with a pro-Palestinian stance in the university newspaper a year earlier.

President Trump, after returning to office, has waged an "ideological war" by criticizing antisemitism and progressive tendencies at major U.S. private universities. Recently, he revoked the enrollment eligibility of foreign students at Harvard University and has repeatedly demanded the disclosure of lists containing the names and nationalities of foreign students.

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