The figure has been on a steady decline over the last six years, with the total number of South Korean F-1 visa holders having more than halved since 2011. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of South Korean students in the U.S. is decreasing, due in part to strict immigration policies championed by President Donald Trump.
The number of South Koreans who entered the U.S. last year on F1 visas, which are issued to international students, stood at 22,856, down 9.9 percent from 25,355 in 2016, according to Korean-American newspapers citing the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of State.
The figure has been on a steady decline over the last six years, with the total number of South Korean F-1 visa holders having more than halved since 2011.
Under stricter immigration policies proposed by Trump, it has become harder for South Korean students to study at universities in the U.S., the newspapers wrote.
There is also an increasing number of international students who have been denied an F1 visa even after receiving an I-20 form, which is officially titled as ‘Certificate of Eligibility for Nonimmigrant Student Status’.
The number of Chinese and Indian students who went to the U.S. to study also dropped, by 23.8 percent and 28.5 percent year-on-year, respectively.
In the meantime, the number of South Korean students studying in Canada increased by 5 percent last year, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
