Deportation: MEA Asks USA to Honour Visas Issued by its Embassies

MEA has asked the US government to “honour the visas issued by their own consulate/embassies.”

Representational image of relation between India and USA. (Photo: iStockphoto)

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has asked the government of the United States of America (USA) to “honour the visas” issued by US embassies, in the wake of repeated deportations of Indians, mainly students.

<p>Government of India continues to remain closely engaged with the US Government on this subject. We have strongly emphasized the need for the US authorities to honour the visas issued by their own Embassy/Consulates.<br></p>

<p><a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/26250/Advisory+for+Indian+Nationals+travelling+to+the+United+States+of+America+December+30+2015">Ministry of External Affairs Statement</a></p>

The matter came to light when scores of Indian students were deported from the US while some were barred from boarding US-bound flights for which they had valid tickets and visas.

An Air India flight barred 19 students from boarding a US-bound flight at the Hyderabad international airport based on communication from the US government that the universities they were headed to were under scrutiny, on December 21.

<p>Air India received communication on December 19, 2015 from the US Customs and Border Protection agency that two universities namely Silicon Valley, San Jose, California and North Western Polytechnic College, Fremont, CA are under scrutiny and students who arrived into San Francisco were not allowed to enter the US and were deported back to India.<br></p>

<p><a href="http://www.thequint.com/hot-wire/2015/12/21/air-india-stops-19-indian-students-from-boarding-flight-to-us">Air India Statement on December 21</a></p>

On December 29, another 20 Telugu students were deported from Chicago, as the immigration department cancelled their F1 visas.

In an initial case related to the matter, in the first week of December, 14 students were stopped at the Chicago airport and questioned them for close to 15 hours.

However, within the past few days, people visiting the US for tourism, business, or personal purposes have also been deported, according to the MEA statement.

Contrary to the December 21 Air India statement, the US government has now told the MEA that the visas are being denied based on “assessment made by US immigration authority”.

According to a Deccan Chrnoicle report, of the students deported, few were from other universities like the Colorado State University and the University of Iowa.

Read why having a student visa does not guarantee entry into the US.