With the forthcoming US presidential elections likely to bring in a new set of policies that may tighten visa norms, immigration and employment of foreign citizens, it has evoked some anxiety among Indian students wanting to go abroad for higher studies.
The applicants for whom the US would have been the most preferred destination are now thinking twice. Binita Pare from Beyond Boundaries, told Deccan Chronicle, “The students applying are a little scared right now and are unsure regarding applying for US. I have been seeing these patterns for over 16 years now, and I must say European countries are catching up.”
Smrithi S, who was aspiring to do her post graduation in International Relations in California, echoes similar emotions. “I have been looking forward to this for a long time, but my family is actually worried about sending me to US now. It seems quite volatile, and we don’t know when what might happen politically. I’m planning to apply to universities in Australia now.”
However, some feel that it wouldn’t cause any major change in statistics. “Almost two and half lakh students go abroad every year for higher studies, and half of them for US and there has been no change in the recent times,” said Rajesh Sher from Krishna Consultancies in Bangalore. “I’ve been in the business for almost 9 years and even though students go to Australia and Europe, the top of that list will always be US.”
He felt if the US adopts policies unfavourable towards foreign students, they themselves would suffer. “They earn a lot of revenue from the foreign students. Firstly they pay double, so if they decide on a whim to make policies hostile, they will only be doing harm to themselves.”
