A Proposal, a “Storm” Melissa: Recently, the US Congress and the Republican Party have started to push for a ban on issuing study visas to Chinese students. Do you think this proposal will pass? And will it have any impact on us? Lawyer Xue: Firstly, this kind of proposal will definitely not pass. And the real situation is not as terrifying as what many media have publicized. The origin of this matter is that several extremely conservative Republican congressmen put forward a proposal. This proposal is just in the initial discussion stage, and they are still soliciting support from more congressmen. It hasn’t reached the stage of being voted on in Congress yet. So, it’s just a proposal.
Just like the proposals in China’s Two Sessions, it is often just a suggestion and won’t actually become a real law. Moreover, the cancellation or establishment of the visas for a certain group requires legislation and needs to be passed through a vote in Congress. It’s not that just because a few individual congressmen put forward a proposal, this matter will eventually come true. So, there is no need for everyone to panic.
Do Chinese students studying in the United States need to worry about their status? Melissa: If this proposal is passed, will it affect Chinese students who are already in the United States? Will these students be worried that their student status might be cancelled or that they could face deportation due to the loss of their student status? Lawyer Xue: Firstly, this issue is related to a previous matter. For example, some people said that Trump was going to cancel the legal investment program, and then many investment immigrants and even their families became worried. They wondered if their previous investment immigration applications would come to nothing and if they would be affected. First of all, there is a general principle in the legal system. There is a basic legal criterion called the principle of non-retroactivity of laws. That is to say, a piece of legislation or a policy will not be applied retroactively to previous matters and applications. So, I think this bill will not pass, and it is even impossible for it to become an effective proposal. However, if, by some extremely rare chance, it does pass, I don’t think students who were already studying there before this bill came into being will be affected either. Moreover, for students who have already obtained student visas and are studying in the United States, it won’t have a significant impact on them. So, there is no need for everyone to panic. And I think this is just a gimmick. It’s just that a few extremely conservative Republican congressmen want to draw attention and try to take advantage of this general trend to make such a meaningless move. So, I think there is no need for everyone to panic. It is absolutely impossible that just because of this proposal, or because of the words of these few extremely conservative congressmen, Chinese students’ visas will be cancelled, they will be deported, and they will lose their student status. So, there is really no need for everyone to panic.
