The Ministry of Education yesterday said that Taiwanese students’ US visa applications are continuing as usual, after Politico reported that US President Donald Trump’s administration is considering requiring all international students to undergo social media vetting.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday ordered US embassies to “pause scheduling new interviews for such student visa applicants,” Politico reported.
“Effective immediately, in preparation for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting, consular sections should not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued,” the order said, according to Politico.
Photo: Wang Yi-song, Taipei Times
Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) yesterday at the Legislative Yuan said that the ministry’s overseas branches were in contact with Taiwanese students studying at Harvard University.
The ministry is also in talks with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to ensure that Taiwanese students’ rights to study are not infringed, Cheng said.
The Department of Higher Education is working with National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University to offer students a smooth transfer to domestic universities, he added.
Department of Higher Education Director-General Liao Kao-hsien (廖高賢) said the department has received phone calls from Harvard students, but they did not mention being asked to leave the university.
Domestic universities have expressed a willingness to accept students in the US, Liao said.
Department of International and Cross-strait Education Director-General Lee Yu-jiuan (李毓娟) said the US Department of State’s Web site does not carry any information about a general halt on student visas.
Lee also said that her department had reached out to the AIT and confirmed that it had not received an order from the US Department of State to suspend student visa processing, and that all scheduled visa interviews were continuing as planned.
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