A recent federal report indicates that, over the past year, there has been an increase in students from foreign countries studying here in the United States.
The report is by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program and it regards data on students who hold one of the two main immigration statuses for students: F status and M status. The data came from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System and it was collected from the system in early March.
The data indicated that international student enrolment total here in the U.S. was up 6.2 percent from where it was in March of last year. What things do you think are factors in this increase?
According to the data, the F/M-status international student total here in the U.S. is nearly 1.2 million students. The region that the greatest number of international students studying in the U.S. are from is Asia, with students from Asia making up 77 percent of international students in America. The most common countries of origin for international students in the U.S. are (in no particular order): Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, India, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
As this report underscores, many students from across the globe have the desire to study here in America. Many immigration issues can arise for foreign students when it comes to studying in the U.S., including issues related to trying to get approved for the immigration status necessary to come to the U.S. to study and issues that can come up (like issues related to employment eligibility) after a student has this status and is in the U.S. studying. Experienced immigration attorneys can provide international students with guidance when it comes to immigration issues related to going to school in the United States.
Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, “ICE releases quarterly international student data,” April 29, 2016