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April 27, 2020 Question of the Week: Travel Suspension

Monday, April, 27th, 2020 Archived / Inactive

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Question of the Week

Each week the International Center will pose a frequently asked question from students and scholars. These questions are general in nature and have been edited for conciseness and clarity. If you have a question you'd like us to include in this column, send us an email at internationalcenter@tufts.edu.

April 27, 2020

Question: I heard last week that the President issued an Executive Order that will stop US immigration. What does this mean? Does it affect me (I'm an F-1 student)?

Answer: President Trump did make news last week with a Twitter indicating that he was "suspending US immigration." However, the Executive Order that was published on April 22nd which went into effect on April 23rd only affects persons outside of the US applying for immigrant visas (permanent residence or green cards). For these groups of persons, there will be a 60-day suspension on their ability to enter the US. For non-immigrant visa holders (including F-1 students, J-1 exchange visitors, H-1B temporary workers, and others), the Executive Order will not apply and will not affect your ability to stay or enter the US. Also, the Executive Order does not apply to persons already in the US who are pursuing green cards.

For a longer discussion, view our blog post on the Executive Order.

Note that even though the April 22nd Executive Order is limited in scope, there are still significant travel suspensions and restrictions relating to COVID-19. International travel is still strongly discouraged unless absolutely necessary and both international and domestic travel for university-related activities remains suspended until further notice.