As US universities scramble to replace Chinese students, student visa fraud skyrockets.

China is still the number one foreign source of students for US universities, but the overall number of students from China is falling sharply. This presents enormous financial challenges for educational institutions in the US and in other countries. Foreign students typically come from wealthy homes, and pay full tuition and room and board. A shortfall of just a few dozen such students can create budgetary crises in schools.

These realities have forced universities to seek foreign students from other countries to plug the gap, and India is an obvious choice. But admissions departments are struggling in the face of massive visa fraud in India and Bangladesh, notably. At one university, 65% of all applications from India and Bangladesh were fake. At other schools, students immediately upon arrival into the US "transfer out" to other vocational-type that allow students to work--a creative way around our H-1B visa rules.


Resources and links:

F1 visas explained
https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-...

Gaming the student visa system: International admissions offices plagued with fraud
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/g...

Still No. 1. But for How Long? The Future of Chinese Student Mobility to the U.S.
https://wenr.wes.org/2023/05/still-no...