Visa Stress Continues For Students Bound For US Colleges

Study abroad counsellor Karan Gupta said a builder’s family is planning to spend a fortnight in Dubai and then enter the US to drop his son at his university in Los Angeles. “Some parents who have businesses in Dubai are staying put there and heading to the US from there,” said another counsellor Sonal Parekh.

The trend of dropping off their children is very popular, especially among the parents of the thousands of undergraduate teens who head out every year. “There was a lot of heartburn when the US Consulate’s India office clarified that parents, even those holding US visas, could not travel with their children,” said Gupta.

And creative travel plans emerged. If some are chartering flights, the budget-conscious could fly commercial to countries that are allowing Indians in and are simultaneously on the accepted list for the US. Several parents from the UK will route their trip to the US via Egypt. Some are planning to fly to Russia and from there to America. The US Consulate here has advised against booking flights with a stop in Europe as they have strict quarantine policies.