The spread of the pandemic has once again plunged the world into a tense atmosphere. For some international students about to enter summer vacation, a pressing anxiety is: can they continue to stay in the U.S. if their student visa is about to expire?
Logging onto the U.S. embassy website and searching for visa appointment times reveals that U.S. consular visa services have only recently begun to open appointment services. However, only a few embassies are open, and some remain closed. A large number of visa applications cannot be evenly distributed. With visa services suspended for months, more and more students are waiting for visas, and the timeline for visa issuance remains uncertain.
For health and safety reasons, many undergraduate students in the U.S. have chosen to continue staying at home in the U.S. But as they see their visa about to expire, they begin to worry about their immigration status. Does an expired visa affect their life and studies in the U.S.?
Difference Between F-1 Visa and I-20
First, you need to distinguish between the visa and the I-20.
Whenever we travel abroad, we need a visa because it is a required document permitting entry into a country. For international students, it is the F-1 visa.
Our I-20, on the other hand, is proof of our legal student status in the U.S. Different situations after graduation, such as internships and jobs, require different documents.
.png?x-oss-process=style/opt-webp)
Above is a response from UW to international students regarding visa expiration: if a student's visa has expired but the I-20 is still valid and the student is still enrolled full-time, then they are legally staying in the U.S.
In short, for international students, the document determining legal status in the U.S. is the I-20, while the F-1 visa governs entry.
If you previously entered the U.S. legally, as long as your I-20 remains valid and you meet the full-time student requirement, an expired F-1 visa is not a problem.
The visa is used to confirm lawful entry at the border; it only needs to be valid when you re-enter the country.
Therefore, from the perspective of university international student services, a student staying in the U.S. with an expired visa and only renewing it the next time they return home is perfectly normal, and this approach makes sense during the pandemic.
Of course, if your I-20 expires, then even if your visa is still valid, your status in the U.S. is no longer legal. This only happens in special circumstances, such as being terminated for cheating on an exam while in school. You would need a new school acceptance and a new I-20 to legally remain in the U.S.
Policies During the Pandemic
Now, most U.S. institutions have shifted to online courses, and immigration authorities have allowed F-1 students to take more online courses than normally permitted. Given the special circumstances, students may also continue and complete online courses from outside the U.S.
Current U.S. entry restrictions have not been lifted, and some schools have restrictions on students returning to campus from abroad. International students who plan to return to China now and later wish to come back to the U.S. need to stay informed about travel restrictions and the latest notices from their schools.
Students staying put in the U.S. need not worry about visa expiration. Returning to China now involves a half-month quarantine, and if a positive case is detected on the same flight, the quarantine period may be further extended.
If you have no urgent need to return home, staying here also reduces trouble for the motherland and saves you considerable time and effort.
During this exceptional pandemic period, various study-abroad policies will be updated and adjusted. Students are advised to stay informed, and CheersYou（清柚教育） will continue to follow up with the latest notices and information.
U.S. Immigration COVID-19 Guidance Page:
https://www.ice.gov/coronavirus
U.S.-China Visa Information Service Website:
https://www.ustraveldocs.com/cn_zh/index.html
Check each school's international student services page on their university website, such as:
