Harvard’s international students face uncertainty after Trump administration revokes enrollment rights, temporarily blocked by federal judge

Harvard University

Thousands of international students at Harvard University were left in uncertainty on Friday after the Trump administration rescinded the university’s authority to enroll foreign students.

Later that day, a federal judge issued a temporary block on the administration's decision, shortly after Harvard filed a lawsuit in Boston, casting doubt on what would come next.

Roughly around 6,800 foreign students are studying at Harvard that make up  27% of student body. Since taking office in January, President Trump has repeatedly criticized Ivy League institutions, alleging they promote anti-American, Marxist, and far-left ideologies.

After this move other universities would get a chance to have more Harvard-level students, taking in swathes of them is unlikely to be easy with only three months left until the start of the next academic year.

Michael Gritzbach, a German student who is studying for a master's degree in public administration, described the move as a "dream turned into a nightmare", especially for those who had saved up for years or had won scholarships.

He raised concern that even a court victory could not guarantee that foreign students would be able to continue to study at Harvard because "we do not know if the government will accept that, or if the whole situation will just take too long for us to react in time."

A British student from Cambridge University, set to begin a master’s program at Harvard’s School of Education in September, said she hadn’t believed the Trump administration would follow through with a ban on international students.

The student, who communicates regularly with other international students accepted into Harvard and asked not to be named to speak freely, said the main consensus was that "there is honestly nothing we can do ourselves right now".

She said that if she were to go to Harvard as planned, she was concerned about being able to speak openly.

"It's worrying everywhere, but especially on a student campus where the exchange of ideas is supposed to be celebrated. If I do end up coming to Harvard, going on campus, I know that I'll be watched as an international student in certain ways."

Visa Delays

Speaking before the U.S. judge's intervention on Friday, international students said they were already facing delays on their U.S. visa applications since Thursday.

One student was told by their visa interviewer that, while their documents were in order, the visa application was on hold for "additional administrative processing" due to recent developments, according to a private messaging group for foreign students seen by Reuters. They said they were told the process could take 60 days.

"Everything is in limbo right now and we're just waiting and seeing," they said.

Abdullah Shahid Sial, a Harvard student from Pakistan who is also co-president of its governing body for undergraduates, said some students were already looking at moving to other universities.

"We are trying to work with the university administration to offer active assistance to students who are willing (or are forced) to transfer to other universities - within and outside the United States," he said in an email.

Universities in the UK’s prestigious Russell Group—which includes 24 leading higher education institutions—stand to gain if international students begin seeking alternatives outside the U.S. The group did not respond to a request for comment.

A UK government-commissioned report in 2024 warned that limiting international student enrollment could jeopardize the financial stability of some universities.

Corinne Feuz, a spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Technology Institute, said the university expected to begin receiving applications quickly from students who have changed their minds about studying in the U.S.

"These recent measures against Harvard University could shift the situation and lead us to receive the best students globally," Feuz said.

Switzerland's ETH Zurich, the alma mater of physicist Albert Einstein, said that 22 ETH students could be affected by the changes to visa regulations.

Trinity College Dublin said it was too early to say whether there would be an influx of Harvard students due to the move.

But undergraduate applications from U.S. students this year were up 16% and those from postgraduates were up 64%, said Catherine O'Mahony, a spokesperson for the university.

The same uptick was occurring in Britain, said Tom Moon, deputy head of consultancy at Oxbridge Applications, which helps students in their university applications.

UK and European Union students were also now more hesitant to apply to U.S. universities, Moon said.

In the Netherlands, the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) said it currently has one student on exchange at Harvard and another planning to go.

A spokesperson for the Dutch education minister said it would be "a really serious matter" if students were forced to discontinue their studies. The Dutch government was in contact with its U.S. counterparts, the spokesperson said.

Canadians accounted for about 11% of foreign students at Harvard. According to LinkedIn and the Harvard Crimson newspaper, among those was Cleo Carney, daughter of newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, a Harvard alumnus.

Carney's office declined to comment

Princess Elisabeth, first in line to the Belgian throne, was another Harvard student facing expulsion. She has completed her first year, Belgian Palace spokesperson Lore Vandoorne said.

"The impact of this decision will only become clearer in the coming days/weeks. We are currently investigating the situation," Vandoorne said.

(With Reuters inputs)