Govt asks students on way to 2 California universities to defer departure

NEW DELHI: The external affairs ministry on Wednesday advised Indian students seeking admission in two California-based universities to defer their departure till it gets a response from the US government on the issue.

"Till the matter is satisfactorily resolved, students seeking admission in the concerned universities are advised to defer their travel to the US," a ministry statement said.

On Sunday, 19 students were offloaded from an Air India flight in Hyderabad, when they were on their way to San Francisco to join Silicon Valley University in San Jose and North Western Polytechnic in nearby Fremont.

"The government of India took up the matter up with the US government and has asked the US authorities to explain the reasons for denial of entry to Indian students holding valid visas," the MEA statement added.

So far, 14 Indian students from the two universities have been deported after their immigration documents were found to be suspect by the US officials. India had reacted strongly to their deportation.

The two institutions are currently under the scrutiny of the US administration for allegedly having dubious credentials.

Air India said it offloaded the students after hearing from its office in US to avoid "inconvenience" to them.

The airline, in a statement, said it received a communication on December 19 from the US Customs and Border Protection agency that the two universities were under scrutiny and the students who arrived in San Francisco were not allowed to enter the US and were deported back to India.