As coronavirus cases continue to rise alarmingly from mid-March, the government imposed an apparently loose nationwide lockdown for one week from April 5 as part of its move to contain its spread. Later a stricter lockdown was declared from April 14 to 21 and then April 22 to 28, and as a result, thousands of students who earned their admission and scholarship at different universities abroad, especially in the United States, are counting days in anxiety.
From April 5, the US embassy in Dhaka cancelled previously scheduled visa interviews and also stopped providing any new visa appointments for the near future, saying this would be the scenario until the lockdown and travel restrictions get lifted - and many students fear that they will lose funding opportunities and will ultimately have to cancel their admission to desired universities.
As the lockdown got extended due to the ongoing massive spike in the daily infection and mortality rate related to Covid-19, and also considering the devastating scenario in India, the uncertainty rather increased among the visa aspirant students.
One of the top countries in the world for the quality education system, the United States contains most of the prolific and top-ranked universities which offer full scholarships, fellowships and fundings to the most meritorious students around the world. So, the visa aspirants have already proven themselves as scholars with higher degrees from top universities of the country and aspiring advanced research-based knowledge on the evolution of technology, health sectors, economics and other fields, only to face the same extreme frustration and anxiety regarding the visa dilemma - once again this year, after suffering in 2020.
Statistics says that every year, more than 3,000 students from Bangladesh go to the United States of America which is considered as the hotspot of advanced education and cutting edge research, to study in different universities with honorary scholarships and fellowships. They compete against the graduates from the best and most advanced universities around the world and are playing a significant role in the advancement of science, arts and engineering.
Through the dedication and efforts of these talented students, the reputation of Bangladesh is spreading beyond the borders, and past honoraries with these higher study opportunities are already playing significant roles by utilizing their immense potentials for the further development and progress of Bangladesh.
In American universities, students are usually admitted into three sessions each year - Spring (January), Summer (May) and Fall (July-August). While most students usually prefer the Fall semester, most of the Fall 2020 students were not able to join their scheduled sessions due to the non-availability of visa because of the pandemic.
The problem is, if a student fails to attend the university before the start of class, then the admission including scholarship offers will be cancelled - according to the university admission policy in America. Considering the situation, some lucky students were able to defer their admission to the Spring session and attend their universities in January 2021 and some were also able to hold their admission and scholarships for the Summer 2021 and Fall 2021 sessions, based on individual university policies.
