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Carl Zhang

Edith Mao

The United States embassy in China has tightened its visa policy for children under the age of 14 years by removing an interview-free application process.
The decision follows Washington’s recent threats to “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country and increase scrutiny of future applications.
In a notice posted on its official visa application website USTravelDocs on Monday, the embassy said that applicants under 14 who submit a non-immigrant visa application will “no longer be eligible for an interview waiver”.
As of Tuesday, they will have to attend an interview in person with at least one of their parents and provide a number of documents to verify their and their parents’ identities.
The old rules will remain in place for applications submitted before Tuesday, but the embassy said that “in certain cases” those applying will be asked to attend an interview.
Tracy Shao, a study abroad consultant based in Chengdu, said the new policy was confusing.
“Children under the age of 14 had not been required to go through a visa interview because it is meaningless,” said Shao.
“Whether their applications are approved or not is entirely determined by the conditions of their parents. Do babies who don’t even know how to speak have to be present for the visa interview as well? I really doubt that.”
On Tuesday, the first day of the new policy, one Chinese mother who had attended the embassy for a successful visa interview with her two children said she had been unsure whether to bring her youngest child, who is just eight months old.
The woman, who gave her name only as Lily, said she had booked the interview in April and was worried that their visas would not be approved if she hadn’t brought the children along with here even though it would be “exhausting to take an eight-month infant with us”.
“So I decided to take both of them for the interview, yet the staff told me that the children don’t have to be present,” she said, adding she even breastfed the baby at the embassy.
Beyond the inconvenience the new interview requirement brings, it may also deter parents from sending children on US study tours.


Mark Wang from Beijing, the father of a 13-year-old boy, said he had cancelled plans for his son to go on a study tour this summer in the US following the policy change.
“I think the new policy is a hostile gesture. I get the unwelcoming message. I’ve decided to register my son for domestic summer camps,” Wang said.
Mainland China accounts for just under a quarter of international students in the US, with more than 277,000 studying there last year, a figure beaten only by India, according to the Institute of International Education.
Many of these students are likely to have chosen to apply to American universities because of their study tours or exchange experiences in the US when they were younger.
The latest visa restrictions form part of the growing tension between Beijing and Washington.
Last month Secretary of State Marco Rubio anneounced that the US would start “aggressively” revoking visas issued to Chinese students with links to the Communist Party or studying in critical fields.
The US embassy in Beijing has not responded to requests for comment.


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China

Diplomacy

Embassy in Beijing says that a rule that allowed children to apply for a visa without attending an interview has been scrapped


Embassy in Beijing says that a rule that allowed children to apply for a visa without attending an interview has been scrapped.


Donald Trump’s China policy

United States

Marco Rubio

Chinese children under 14 become latest targets of tougher US visa policies

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Embassy in Beijing says that a rule that allowed children to apply for a visa without attending an interview has been scrapped

Embassy in Beijing says that a rule that allowed children to apply for a visa without attending an interview has been scrapped