A new report has uncovered persistent disparities in the denial rates of international F-1 American student visas, particularly those from Africa, which account for 80% of the top 15 states with increased refusal rates in 2023.
Nancy (not her real name), a first time F-1 visa applicant, had her application rejected last year by the United States embassy in Nigeria despite “paying full tuition fees and producing every single document required, including proof of my lucrative job and comfortable living standard”. Her hopes of pursuing her engineering programme at a university in Massachusetts were dashed. But what hurts her even more was not knowing why her visa application was denied.
“I was given a bunch of papers which were meant to explain why my application was unsuccessful but the explanations made no sense at all,” Nancy tells The Africa Report. “I was devastated. They asked for evidence of this and that and I gave them everything, in addition to high visa and other costs. Yet, I was told I wasn’t good enough to study in the US. That hurts.”
Nancy is one of the many Africans that according to a recently-published report by US advocacy groups Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and Shorelight, continue to experience high visa denial rates to American colleges and universities.
‘Everyone loses when a qualified student is denied a visa’
According to the report, nations that saw denial rate increases of 10% or higher in 2023 were all located in Asia and Africa, with the continent experiencing the highest denial rate (averaging 57% with some differences by sub-region). When excluding outlier subregions like Southern Africa (where denial rates hover around 19%), the denial rate for remaining African regions rises to 61%.
“Our latest analysis shows that eager, talented students are still being turned away, and that this continues to affect US higher education and our institutions,” says Rajika Bhandari, Senior Advisor at the Presidents’ Alliance. “These visa denials hinder the dreams of these students and can have sizable impacts on US higher education institutions, the workforce, and the economy. Everyone loses when a qualified student is denied a visa.”
In July 2023, the Presidents’ Alliance and Shorelight issued a similar report – covering an eight-year period between 2015 and 2022 – showing that although the rates of visa denials varied across different regions and sub-regions, students from the African subcontinent consistently faced the highest rates of visa denials.
The latest data-driven study shows rejection rate for Africa is higher than those for applicants from the Middle East and South America. Some 74% of student visa applications submitted by Kenyan students were rejected. The study further reveals similarly high denial rates for other African countries, including:
- Ethiopia: 78%
- Nigeria: 75%
- Congo: 69%
- Ghana: 63%
- Zimbabwe: 47%
“The high rate of visa denials in Africa and the Global South is concerning, as it contributes to a decline in the share of international students choosing to study in the US compared to other global destinations,” says Shelley Landry, Senior Director of Government Affairs at Shorelight. “With the growing demand for international talent, particularly in these regions, it is crucial to address these challenges.”
Fanta Aw, executive director of the Association of International Educators (NAFSA), told VOA: “Whenever we see that sort of data for any country, let alone a region of the world, it gives us pause.”
Positive developments but concerns remain
Since the initial report’s release last year, the Presidents’ Alliance and Shorelight said several positive developments have occurred. The US State Department has engaged with the report’s findings to address high-demand challenges and members of Congress actively seeking to ensure more predictability, transparency, and equity in visa issuance.
However, they expressed concern that with the increase in visa denial rates for students from certain regions of the Global South, especially African students, this issue remains prevalent and requires immediate attention.
“These updated findings show a continuing pattern of disparate outcomes, and we are eager to work with the higher education community and the government to address the root causes,” said Jill Welch, Senior Policy Advisor at the Presidents’ Alliance and senior consultant to the US for Success Coalition, where both the Presidents’ Alliance and Shorelight are founding members.
“The US government, and the [Biden] administration in particular, has made some important improvements in visa processing; now we need to build on those improvements to ensure greater equity so that the US can benefit from the potential of these students from the Global South, and the African continent in particular,” she said.
Ahead of the American presidential election in November and with a Trump presidency on the table, there are growing concerns of what his second presidency would mean for African and other foreign students who may want to apply for visas to study in the US.
“We may not speculate at the moment but immigration policies tend to shift with every new regime,” says Willys Mac Olale, a director at Fragomen’s Kenya office with over 17 years of immigration services experience as an authority on immigration policies.
“Most of the time, the shift depends on and is informed by the new government’s foreign policy,” he tells The Africa Report.
@Africa Report
