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Message: [QUOTE="UConnCat, post: 3610253, member: 15"] In March, ICE allowed an exemption to the preexisting rule that students in the country on certain nonimmigrant student visas (“F-1” visas) must attend most classes in person. This exemption was in response to the Covid pandemic and the fact that colleges and universities replaced in-person classes with on-line classes during the spring term. The exemption stated that students holding F-1 visas could attend remote classes while retaining their visa status. Furthermore the US government stated that the exemption would remain “in effect for the duration of the emergency." The lawsuits are not seeking to change the preexisting rules for F-1 visas, they are arguing that the exemption should remain in effect until the Covid emergency is over (it isn't, of course). Harvard and MIT point out that they and other universities across the country made plans for the upcoming academic year relying on the exemption remaining in place, especially given the current state of the virus in the US. Lifting the exemption at this late date, they argue, has thrown universities and foreign students in to chaos. [/QUOTE]