As you may have heard, the Chinese government recently issued a warning to students planning to study in the U.S., alerting them to potential visa delays and further complications. We have immediately seen an understandable increase in queries from concerned students about pending I-20s (the documents students need to apply for a US visa). We have also heard from some units on campus requesting information on the status of student documents.
Please know that we are currently working hard to issue pending I-20s for admitted students planning to enroll in the fall. Unfortunately, changing federal regulations, increasingly stringent oversight procedures, and longer processing times within federal agencies have added significantly to our advisors’ workload, and have consequently produced a significant backlog.
Given the need for advisors to balance and prioritize those cases with hard deadlines and with very severe consequences for students of missing them—most notably CPT, OPT, and OPT-STEM extensions—we are experiencing delays in issuing first time I-20s.
I would like to thank you for your understanding and your patience as our International Student Services team works to address this backlog. Please know that we are committed to ensuring that every admitted student has an opportunity to enroll at UF and that they are made to feel welcome and supported once here. We are keenly aware that in the current context this is more important than ever.
Sincerely,
Dean Leonardo Villalón
UF International Center