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Chinese university students weigh options after US visa rule change amid coronavirus pandemic
- International students must take in-person classes to stay in the US despite Covid-19, says a rule being challenged in a lawsuit by two elite universities
- For many, it’s a tough choice to make – and it will be costly and difficult for those already back home to return to the United States
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Hours after he heard that international university students could no longer study in the US if they just took online classes, 21-year-old Huang Liqin posted a photo of himself to messaging app WeChat.
He was wearing a gas mask and goggles.
“Hello everyone, this is my equipment for next semester,” he wrote.
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The Chinese student had been studying at a private liberal arts college in Minnesota but has been staying with a friend in Irvine, California since March, when classes were shifted online as the coronavirus began to spread across the country.
“When I learned about the [visa] rule, I realised some of my worst predictions had come true,” he said.
02:31
Repatriation of over 1.4 million Chinese students stranded abroad by Covid-19 creates dilemma
Repatriation of over 1.4 million Chinese students stranded abroad by Covid-19 creates dilemma
Huang, one of 370,000 Chinese students in the United States, is among those whose lives have been turned upside down by the new visa rule announced by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday.
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