Page 10 - StudyTravel Magazine July/August 2021 Issue

usA Also In

the news

Brazilian agency association
BELTA launched a group travel
marketing campaign with a digital
infl uencer. bit.ly/3eZgXbr

UK higher education focused agency
group SI-UK announced
USA eases rules, concern over expansion plans. bit.ly/3hIcyLV
visa backlog
lAnguAge secondAry tertiAry AssociAted
The Federation of Education and
he USA has announced a number Language Consultant Associations
of measures to ease restrictions welcomed Mexican
Ton international students, which association AMTE as a new
have been welcomed by international member. bit.ly/2QvWm5g
education industry stakeholders.
It was confi rmed by the State
Department that F-1 and M-1 stu- TAELE has launched a new online
dents from Brazil, China and Iran will Spanish language test.
be exempt from wider entry bans bit.ly/3yqq5h2
from those countries for programmes beginning from August under
a ‘National Interest Exception’, adding to the previously announced
exemption for students from Europe. bit.ly/3fPP7Oj A digital version of the
Meanwhile, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) also Michigan English Test will
confi rmed that the March 2020 guidance on online study concessions commence in October.
due to Covid-19 will be continued into the 2021/22 academic year. The bit.ly/2S9pM9W
announcement means that new students whose programmes are
fully online will not be allowed into the USA, but students on hybrid
programmes will be allowed to enter. Read more at: bit.ly/3vnmU8b Unizest, a provider of electronic
The Department for Education said that international students are bank accounts for international
now eligible for Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). A students in the UK, is being
new US$36 billion package to support institutions and their students relaunched after new
was unveiled, and a policy under the previous administration that lim- investment. bit.ly/2QwwBSm
ited funding to domestic students has been reversed. bit.ly/3hVHatE
The Biden administration also allowed an entry suspenion on work-
related strands of the J-1 exchange visa to lapse, meaning the sum- A new Sidekick Mastercard
mer work travel programmes can in theory go ahead this year. The product has been launched to
Alliance for International Exchange www.alliance-exchange.org, an support international students
association representing the exchange sector, welcomed the move, and families with budgeting and
but called for J-1 visas to be prioritised and for J-1s to be given the spending. bit.ly/3wfAx9p
same exemption status as F-1 and M-1 visas. bit.ly/34gLf3h
Meanwhile, international education associations including the
American Council on Education and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Oxford International Education
Education and Immigration called for student visa processing to be Group has announced a new HE
expedited, for clarity on processing times and for a return of premium Advisory Board to support its
processing ahead of the next academic year. growth plans. bit.ly/3yGZWdU

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