US visa delays leave Chinese students stranded with ‘frozen’ plans and ‘constant anxiety’

Late August marks the annual influx of international students to US campuses, but for many Chinese students, visa processing delays and diplomatic tensions have turned scheduled departures into open-ended delays. They say stringent visa scrutiny and expanding background checks have left them in limbo, delaying their timely arrival in the US and forcing them to defer enrolment. Under a provision of US immigration law known as “administrative processing” or visa checks, applicants may be asked to...