Andover has hosted two mandatory meetings for international students this week in response to the Trump Administration’s review of policies for Student Visa holders. The meetings were held as anxiety and speculation grew amongst international students about what was to come.
SIDEBAR: Executive Order In Detail
On January 20th, President Trump’s Inauguration Day, he issued Executive Order 14161 titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.” The Trump Administration intends to publish a report “within 60 days of the date of this order,” or March 21, 2025, just a few days before Andover students return from Spring Break. Upon these 60 Days, the report intends to identify “countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” Looking back on 2016, President Trump issued Executive Order 13780, suspending travel for 90 days from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, as reported by CNN.
International students at Andover who do not have an American or Canadian passport have to get an F-1 Student Visa. To obtain one, Andover administers an I-20 to each international student, a verification that allows them to go to a U.S. embassy in their home country and apply for a Student Visa. According to Nisa Khairunnisa ’25, a senior from Indonesia, the most recent meeting for international students ensured that all students understood this process.
“Last Saturday, we had a meeting for all the visa-owning students,” said Khairunnisa. “In that meeting, [the school administration] emphasized the necessity of getting every single one of our documents in order. Our F-1 must have a travel signature at all times, that is valid, and [we must] make sure that [we are] updating [our] passport information. What I think will happen is that this [presidential] administration will be much more critical of discrepancies in documents, so I think everybody needs to just be hyper-aware of having all their documents in order.”
Trump’s Executive Order raised concerns particularly because the “60-day” review period that Trump instated in his Executive Order ends during Spring Break (see sidebar.) Despite this, Gina Finocchiaro, International Student Coordinator, reiterated that every student has full autonomy over their Spring Break plans.
“The international students that are here at Andover, who are students in good standing and good status, are currently here on valid F-1 visas that are in status that will not terminate or expire before they graduate. Students have every right to go home. They have every right to go home and come back,” said Finocchiaro.
For many students, the process of acquiring an F-1 Visa is arduous. Finocchiaro further detailed this system and explained some of the challenges that students often face.
“If you need a visa, [you] need to go have an appointment at a consulate. Sometimes students can’t get an appointment for months, so we try to start that process early in the summer. If you are from a country where you have to get a new visa every year, you know that part of your summer is to go get an appointment and start the process again,” said Finocchiaro.
She continued, “It seems like one of the things it may do is make it harder for students to get a visa. [Trump] has [also] closed a number of embassies and consulates, as he’s been reducing the number of federal employees. It’s going to make it more difficult to get an appointment because there are fewer places to get one.”
Even though some international students hold dual citizenship, deciding on which passport to enter the country comes down to the F-1 Visa. David Porto ’26, who has both Brazilian and European citizenship, stated that he wished his Visa was under his European citizenship instead of his Brazilian.
“[My friend] lives in Chile and I live in Brazil. So, we were both talking about, ‘Oh, are we going to be able to come back into the U.S.?’ I have dual citizenship, and he does, too. We were talking [about], ‘Which passport do I have to show to get a better chance of getting into the U.S.?’ I have my visa so I was thinking, ‘I have to show the Brazilian one.’ I wish I could show the European one because maybe they’ll be nicer to me,’ said Porto.
He continued, “I’m going back with my girlfriend to Brazil. She’s an American and I’m Brazilian. There’s a little bit of a fear that when we do reach the U.S. again to go back to school, that she’s going to be able to go through the border and I’m not. But it’s not a big interruption, it’s more like a fear. I’m not super-duper scared but there’s still always the risk that they’re not going to let me in.”
For Michelle Onyeka ’27, a student from Mozambique who holds both Canadian and Mozambican citizenship, the risk of travel bans was less of a concern; however, unable to obtain a visa, her single-citizenship Mozambican parents have been barred from visiting either Canada or the U.S.
“It’s really rough. The only thing that would make me feel better is going back home, but I can’t. There are other international students, but all of the ones that I’m friends with, they all have had the chance to go back home this past year. Sometimes I feel like there’s no one I can really talk to, just because they’re all covered in terms of going home,” said Onyeka.
She continued, “My parents were going to try and get a visa again, [for] when I come back in 11th grade. But they’re kind of against coming now.”
Denys Tereschenko ’26, a student from Ukraine, explained how getting a visa was challenging due to the consulate closures.
“There are no working embassies in Ukraine, I don’t think, for any country right now. All embassies work primarily through other countries. I had to go to Poland. I had to strategize to fit in the time. I had to find the embassy, and then I had to deliver my passport, which was also a challenge,” said Tereschenko.
Some international students noted their unfamiliarity with American politics and form of government has only been exacerbated by the confusion and uncertainty resulting from Trump’s Executive Order.
“Right now, it’s like I’m getting lost. [There’s] so much information that I feel like, especially as someone who’s not American, I’ve been getting lost in all the executive orders…I’m not sure whether it’s my failure to follow everything, but I feel like it’s just naturally very hard to follow,” said Tereschenko.
The uncertainty surrounding the Executive Order and what’s to come has been a source of worry for many students. Aquita Winslow, Dean of the Office of Community and Multicultural Development (CaMD), has collaborated extensively with International Student Coordinator Finnochiaro in order to provide support and safe spaces for Andover students.
“The international student coordinator in connection with the CaMD Office is supporting students in all appropriate ways. The international student coordinator makes sure that all students have up-to-date visa information, and, as with all Andover students, we do our best to support our international students with diligence and with care,” wrote Winslow in an email to The Phillipian.
