Sahil Kumar (name changed on request) landed in New York from Delhi last week to join a masters programme in computer science at a university in New York City. He had planned to join the course in the Fall of 2020, but had to defer by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions both in India and the US. “When the US embassy in Delhi started giving student visa appointments in June, initially it was quite chaotic; but later things got streamlined and most of the students who applied were granted visas. Travel logistics, too, were difficult with very few airlines operating direct flights. But finally, everything worked out smoothly,” says Kumar who is now all set to start classes on campus soon.
The United States mission in Delhi, in fact, had a surprise announcement earlier this week of more student visa applications having been approved in India in 2021 than ever before, through its embassy and consulates, despite the global Covid-19 pandemic. This announcement of more than 55,000 students and exchange visitors visas already issued to students in India even as more were getting approved every day, comes amid reports of students in many other countries facing difficulties and delays in getting US visas approved for the Fall term of 2021.
For students in India too, plans for joining US universities in 2021 have been challenging. With the second wave of the pandemic in India during April-May, all US consular operations remained shut with no certainty about when they would resume.
Universities in America, too, delayed making announcements on vaccine requirements and reopening their campuses for in-person classes. What then are the reasons for the record number of Indian students boarding flights to the US? Even as countries such as Australia and New Zealand have not opened their borders for international students, several European Union countries have not been clear about vaccination requirements for Indian students. While the US embassy and consulates in India opened additional hours for visa appointments for students since they resumed visa services in July, applications for some other countries including Canada continue to be hit by delays. Canada, which is a very popular destination for Indian students, is yet to allow direct flights from India.
“What we are primarily seeing is a combination of a pent-up demand from the past couple of years when Indian students were either reconsidering studying in the US because of a perceived unwelcoming climate or they were unable to come due to Covid-19, with many having deferred their offers of admission to the next year – which is the current academic year that is beginning,” says Rajika Bhandari, New York based international higher education expert, and author of the soon to be released book, America Calling: A Foreign Student in a Country of Possibility. Bhandari adds that despite the ongoing pandemic globally, students coming to the US are likely to feel reassured that their campuses have a clear plan for health and safety protocols.
Rajiv Malhotra, whose son took a flight from Delhi to New York earlier this week to join an undergrad course at Williams College in Massachusetts, agrees. “My son is just 18 and was leaving home alone for the first time. We were somewhat worried that we couldn’t travel with him to help him settle down at the campus. However, we have a good support system and close friends of mine picked him up at the airport and will drop him off at campus, which is reassuring for us,” he says. As a parent, he feels that the broad perspective of the education system in the US and the reputation of the college were very attractive for his son. “Besides, he has also got a scholarship, which is one of the reasons for him to chose to go to the US rather than the UK or Canada, both of which were options that he was looking at.”
Many universities in the US that have recently opened their doors to in-person classes, are still crunching the numbers on international student enrolments. “We call this the add/drop week when students register for courses and/or drop them -it appears that we have a high number of students from India for Fall 2021, perhaps higher than any previous year,” says Kiki Caruson, interim vice president, USF World, University of South Florida. While this validates the statement of the US Embassy in India on having issued a record number of visas for Fall 2021, Caruson adds that some of these will be students who deferred their Spring 2021 admission to Fall 2021. “These students made their plans to come to the United States pre-pandemic because of the excellence, diversity of programmes and the flexibility of the higher education system and the promise it offers for professional and personal success,” she said adding that though universities in India were yet to start face-to-face classes, the US had opened its doors to international students.
University of Missouri-Kansas City too has seen a big rise in the number of Indian students enrolled for the Fall semester 2021. With 630 enrolments, this is the highest number since 2016; in 2019 the number was 288. Joy Stevenson, director of international affairs at UMKC attributes this to the patience and tenacity of many graduate students committed to studying in the US, who had hoped to go in Fall 2020 or Spring 2021; and the ongoing efforts of her staff to maintain ongoing contact with these students in the interim.
Job opportunities during and after education, in a post-pandemic situation, is another important factor being considered by Indian students who are going overseas in 2021. While many countries are facing economic challenges, the optional practical training (OPT) rule that allows international students to remain in America for one to three years in a job in their discipline of study, is considered a big advantage. “Students gain invaluable experience and these jobs can also be the pathway to an exciting career in the United States or back in their home country. Some of the world’s top companies are based here. Additionally, many of them are helmed by people of Indian origin – who become aspirational idols for young Indians,” USF’s Caruson explains.
The US jobs market showing signs of strong recovery despite the pandemic, along with the advantage of interdisciplinary education being offered by US universities is an attractive combination for many Indian students this year. “We see the demand coming from Tier-2 and 3 cities. The numbers have grown overall and lots of new towns are adding up to the US student numbers. The advantage of flexibility of subjects offers graduating students from US universities multiple career options,” says Adarsh Khandelwal, co-founder and director of education consultancy Collegify.
Utkarsha Fuller, a student from Gurgaon, travelled to New York to join her classes at Pratt Institute, a private university in New York City, in January 2021. Even back then, the direct flight from Delhi to New York was filled mostly with students going to join their campuses, she recollects. “Getting the student visa was not a problem back then because the US embassy was prioritising students. The last few months have been tough but we are following all safety protocols to stay safe on and off campus,” says Fuller.
From July 2021, when visa services for Indian students resumed, the US embassy and consulates opened additional hours for visa appointments and made efforts to ensure timely arrival for academic programmes for as many students as possible. Consular teams worked not only to match, but surpass, their pre-Covid workload. Besides, many US universities in Fall 2021 waived the entrance exams GRE/GMAT for masters and SAT/ACT for undergraduates, which led to an increase in the number of applications at both levels.
“The US embassy has also been actively sharing updated information on social media about visa appointment bookings and availability of slots. With the inclusion of India in National Interest Exception for US visas, travellers who already had valid student (F-1 or M-1) visas, including those for continuing curricular practical training (CPT) or optional practical training (OPT) programmes, and who will resume their programmes on or after August 1, 2021, may travel without further action from the embassy or consulates,” feels Piyush Kumar, regional director (South Asia), IDP Education, an international education services company.
Geetha NV’s son started preparing for his SAT exams even before the pandemic. “He has joined an undergrad course at USF in computer science. He’s just 18 and I would have been more comfortable if he had gone later for his graduate studies in view of the challenges that international travellers are facing,” Geetha, a Ghaziabad based mother said. She is relieved that the visa and travel have gone smoothly for her son who is already on campus.
While there were many deferrals in the past two terms, the vaccination drive by the US has given a lot of confidence to Indian students despite the pandemic, it appears. “Student visas are being issued on a priority basis in India and there was clear communication to students on the policies and the slot openings. Universities too done a lot of outreach activities towards students, all this led to the big rise in numbers,” says Sumeet Jain, co-founder of overseas education consultancy, Yocket.

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