Ruiyan Wang

Yale released new guidelines for international students on Wednesday after the State Department announced it had suspended new visa interview appointments a day prior. The updated guidelines encouraged students to regularly check the U.S embassy’s webpage and to mind their digital footprints. 

The guidelines, emailed to Yale’s international community and posted on the Office of International Students and Scholars’ website, were published just hours before Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced plans to “aggressively” revoke Chinese students’ visas. 

On Tuesday, Rubio reportedly sent a cable to foreign embassies and consulates, instructing them to halt scheduling student visa interviews. The OISS’s guidance noted that, according to an unnamed State Department official, “the suspension is intended to be temporary and does not apply to applicants who already had scheduled their visa interviews.”

The OISS guidelines advise students with scheduled visa interviews to attend them as planned. Students who need to schedule an interview should submit their DS-160 — the online nonimmigrant visa application form — as soon as possible and monitor American embassy and consulate websites for interview scheduling, the guidelines instruct. 

The OISS webpage notes that the State Department has not officially communicated the “development” regarding interview scheduling to Yale.

“We have no further information at this time,” the OISS webpage reads. “We are monitoring this temporary pause and will share updates as we receive them.” 

The OISS is also advising students to “evaluate your risk regarding your social media presence and digital footprint to determine what, if any, action you should take before applying for a visa or traveling.” Rubio’s cable indicated that the State Department is preparing “for an expansion of required social media screening and vetting.”

Hours after the OISS released its guidance, Rubio announced that the federal government will “aggressively” revoke visas from Chinese students, particularly those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party and those studying “critical fields.” 

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio’s Wednesday announcement reads. “We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”

On Thursday, the OISS released an update for international students from China and Hong Kong. The office advised international students from China and Hong Kong to check their old email accounts for notices of visa revocations and notify their OISS advisors upon receiving any such notice. The directive noted that Yale can provide short-term legal assistance through partnered immigration attorneys and asked students to reconsider upcoming international travel arrangements. 

The update, which was emailed to current and incoming students from China and Hong Kong, states that the State Department “typically communicates a visa revocation directly to the student without any notification to the university.” 

The guidelines also noted that the State Department did not clarify what “critical fields” could mean and what type of enhanced scrutiny visa applicants from China and Hong Kong might face.

Of the international students at Yale, those coming from China make up one of the most represented demographics.

A Chinese international student at Yale, who wrote to the News under the condition of anonymity, described that many of their high school and college friends are shifting towards choosing colleges in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom instead of those in the U.S. 

This week’s policy changes are the latest in a series of assaults by the government on international students’ continued presence in the U.S., frequently justified on grounds of national security and accusations of antisemitism.

Last Thursday, the DHS specifically revoked Harvard University’s ability to host international students, on the grounds of Harvard’s failure to provide the government with sufficient records of “misconduct and other offenses that would render foreign students inadmissible or removable” and for fostering an antisemitic environment on campus. The move was blocked by a temporary restraining order on Friday morning. 

In early April, the federal government terminated the visas of four Yale students, along with nearly two thousand other international students’ across the country. According to a lawsuit filed by two Yale graduate students against the Department of Homeland Security for “unlawfully terminating” their student status records, Yale informed one student that the reason for their visa termination was “otherwise failing to maintain status.” 

The status records of all four students were restored by the end of April, following the Trump administration’s announcement that it would reinstate thousands of student visas.

“I understand why it’s scary, and we’re very eager to support our students and to support every member of our community,” Yale College Dean Pericles Lewis told the News in April. “We recognize that it’s a scary time for international students.”

Over 3,700 international students attended Yale University during the 2024-25 academic year.

Update, May 30: This article has been updated to include the Office of International Students and Scholars’ guidance for students from China and Hong Kong.