African students face the highest visa refusal rates when applying to study in the US, with over half of applicants rejected in 2022. The 54% refusal rate (up from 44% in 2015) is part of a broader trend of increasing visa denials, indicating a less welcoming environment for international students. This comes at a time when young Africans are projected to make up a significant portion of the world's youth population, potentially impacting the US's competitiveness in attracting students. The report highlights the United States' challenge in retaining students, especially as it approaches a demographic decline in domestic college enrollments. (Source: The Interview of a Lifetime Report by Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, and Shorelight).

The rejection rate for African students is on the rise. While the total number of enrolled students from Africa has increased, the rejection rate grew from 48% to 54% since 2018. This resulted in 92,051 potentially qualified students being denied a visa, labelled as 'Missed Opportunity Students' in the report. These students still need to qualify for the F-1 Visa, which is mandatory for immigrant international students studying full-time in US-certified institutions.

The report highlights a growing trend of increased student visa refusals by American immigration officials. For instance, between 2021 and 2022, South Americans saw a rise from 20% to 30%, while Australians and Pacific islanders faced a stark increase from 8% to about 25%. Europe and North America also experienced a rise, though to a lesser extent. The report doesn't specify the African countries affected, but it reveals consistently higher refusal rates for Western and Central Africa (57% to 71%) compared to Eastern and Southern Africa (10% to 48%) since 2018.

According to the report, removing Southern Africa from the equation results in a visa denial rate of 57%, indicating that denials are concentrated in other parts of Africa. Similarly, Canada faces similar challenges, with 59% of visa applications from English-speaking Africans and 74% from French-speaking Africans being rejected.

The reasons behind African students' visa denials in the US compared to their peers worldwide remain uncertain. The report suggests it may reflect emerging US national policies driven by negative public narratives toward immigrants. Despite President Biden's more open approach to immigration, the American debate on the topic has not substantially shifted since the controversial remarks made by former President Trump regarding certain countries.

Emmanuel Smadja, CEO, and co-founder of MPOWER Financing, a Washington DC-based company offering educational loans to international students, suggests that the visa denial issue may be systemic.

African students' first-hand accounts indicate challenges in obtaining visa interviews, with some having to undergo extensive processes and expenses to travel to other countries. Apart from South Africa, most US visa interviews for Sub-Saharan African students occur primarily in Accra, Lagos, and Nairobi.

Based on insights from MPOWER, Bhandari's team found that numerous qualified African students from Sub-Saharan Africa faced visa denials, even with sufficient funding.

The report sheds light on an alarming issue where 3,000 students from Sub-Saharan Africa were accepted for graduate studies at a top US university last year, but only 60% received visas despite meeting admission criteria and securing necessary funding.

There were indications that some African students were denied visas due to insufficient demonstration of funds to support their studies in the US. Fraud concerns were raised, but the Presidents' Alliance, comprising 450 US university leaders, stated that in most cases, African students were victims, not perpetrators.

Source: University world news